Marcus Rashford roasted by ESPN pundit amid reported Barcelona transfer

Marcus Rashford will reportedly spend the 2025-26 season on loan with FC Barcelona. After leaving Manchester United last winter transfer window to join Aston Villa on loan, it was clear that his future wouldn't continue at Old Trafford.

After not staying with Aston Villa past his loan stint, the question surrounding Rashford is where he would play. Rashford showed signs of returning to form, tallying four goals and six assists in 17 total appearances for Aston Villa.

Instead of staying in the Premier League, though, Rashford is reportedly on his way to Spain to play for another prominent European club, Barcelona. Nonetheless, for ESPN FC's Steve Nicol, it's not a move that the attacker deserves.

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"The one thing that I don't like about it is it gives you a bad taste in your mouth because professional football is the—it's a tough business," Nicol said on Saturday's edition of ESPN FC. "But you know what? Sometimes you got to earn your luck, and he hasn't earned it. He's a lucky, lucky boy.

"From a professional point of view, he doesn't deserve this. He doesn't deserve to be going to a great club like Barcelona, the way he's conducted himself over the last 12 months. Even when he went to Villa, as Craig said, he wasn't particularly great."

Moreover, Nicol noted that Rashford hasn't improved his conduct on and off the field to earn another move to a club that's at the level of Manchester United in terms of prestige and popularity.

"Can we sit here and say, 'You know what? Marcus Rashford has done everything to try and make himself on the field a success with either Aston Villa or Manchester United—maybe a little bit more Villa, but with Manchester United.' And it's 100% no," Nicol added.

"He absolutely has done all the wrong things, has said all the wrong things, has acted in the wrong manner, has been unprofessional—been in Ireland the night before training."

It will be interesting to see if Rashford, should his move to Barcelona become official, can find his 2022-23 form in which he scored 30 goals and posted 12 assists in 56 total appearances for Manchester United.