Overview

• Spanish outlet El Nacional claimed Barcelona were weighing an early end to Rashford’s season-long loan after a slow start, a story widely re-reported over the weekend.
• Journalists Guillem Balagué and Fabrizio Romano publicly rejected the claim, saying club and player are aligned and that talk of an early termination is unfounded.
• Sources close to Rashford also denied any plan for a January return, stressing that Barcelona still backs the forward.
• The loan includes an option to buy reported in the £26–30m range and a reported early-termination penalty of about €5m (£4.3m), adding a financial barrier to cutting the deal short.
• Rashford has three LaLiga appearances without a goal or assist, mostly as a substitute, and Hansi Flick has urged patience, while England manager Thomas Tuchel noted his lack of recent ‘wow’ moments but praised his training attitude.