Marcus Rashford has expressed that playing for Barcelona will be an ‘absolute joy’ and he feels ‘right at home’ following his season-long loan transfer from Manchester United.

Though Barcelona has initially secured Rashford on a loan, he has been vocal about his wish to join the team permanently. The club has the option to make this transfer permanent next summer.

The announcement featured Rashford inside a well-known red telephone box during the reveal video. Picking up the phone, he declared: ‘Yes, you can let them know, it’s official.’

Speaking at his unveiling as a Barcelona player, Rashford expressed his excitement at signing for the Spanish giants and said it will be a ‘joy’ to play for the club. 

‘I am very excited, I think it’s a club where people’s dreams come true,’ Rashford said.

‘What the club stands for means a lot to me as well and it feels like I’m at home, and this is a big factor in my choice. It’s a family club people are comfortable here and it’s a good place for people to show their skills.

‘I try to make decisive actions and fast dynamic plays and I always like good football so I’ve always been a fan of watching Barcelona from a young age. 

‘It’s going to be a joy for me to play here and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.’

‘I am definitely full of excitement and hunger to go out and try an help the team win. 

‘They won so much last year and I can see the ambition is to do better than last year.

‘As a player that’s what you want to hear, it keeps you improving year on year and that’s what you need to be the best version of yourself.’

Rashford added that he had ‘very positive’ talks with Barcelona boss Hansi Flick, who he described as one of the games’ ‘top coaches’.

Barcelona confirmed broad details of the agreement on their website.

‘FC Barcelona and Manchester United have reached an agreement for the loan of the player Marcus Rashford until 30 June 2026,’ a Barcelona statement read. ‘The agreement also establishes an option to buy the English forward.

‘The player have signed his contract as a Barça player this afternoon in at a private meeting in the presence of the FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta; the director of the Football Area, and other Board members.’ 

Rashford is understood to have taken 15 per cent pay cut from his £315,000-a-week Man United wage to join Barcelona.

Barcelona’s option to buy him next summer from Man United is understood to be £30m. 

Rashford, 27, returned to Old Trafford at the end of last season after an impressive loan spell at Aston Villa during the second half of the campaign. 

He scored three goals and contributed four assists across all competitions as Unai Emery’s side reached the Champions League quarter-finals. 

However, his Villa Park form was not enough to convince United boss Ruben Amorim to give him a second chance, with the Portuguese eager to move the England international on this summer. 

Rashford made up part of Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ – a select group of United exiles with no future in the manager’s first team plans. 

Members of the ‘bomb squad’ have been told to conduct pre-season training alone at United’s Carrington base, only when Amorim is not there.

Rashford’s United predicament marked an alarming downfall from the sprightly 18-year-old who burst onto the scene by scoring twice on his Premier League debut against Arsenal in February 2016, when he was just 18. 

That saw him tipped for stardom, although he has yet to maintain the consistency required to be considered among the top players in the world. 

While he was a regular fixture in former England manager Gareth Southgate’s sides as an integral part of Three Lions’ run to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and the final of Euro 2020, he has fallen out of favour since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival. 

With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, Rashford will be hoping for a fresh start as he looks to secure his spot on the plane to North America next summer. 

A new environment may also bring the best out of the forward, after he spoke out in April 2024 having been subjected to ‘months of abuse’. 

A post on X, formerly Twitter, read: ‘The way Marcus Rashford is being treated is absolutely disgusting. It’s cruel. It’s abuse.’

Rashford responded by saying: ‘I appreciate your support! It is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough.’

He will join a Barcelona side hoping to defend their LaLiga title they won in German coach Hansi Flick’s first season at the club.