Barcelona are claimed to have rejected the chance to sign Aston Villa target Joao Felix in January because they wanted to sign Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford instead.

Unai Emery insisted that the club pushed to recruit the 25-year-old forward in the winter window, but Chelsea were reluctant to let him join a direct competitor for Champions League football. A loan was ruled out, while the Blues slapped a £60m price tag on him to discourage Villa from pushing for his signature.

Having started just three Premier League games this season, Felix was keen to depart and completed a deadline-day loan move to Serie A giants AC Milan. According to Spanish outlet Sport, Felix was offered to Barcelona before he joined but the La Liga powerhouse declined the transfer opportunity.

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The Metro reports that Barca were, instead, interested in signing England international Marcus Rashford from Manchester United following his rift with Old Trafford boss Ruben Amorim.

Villa, of course, won the race for Rashford’s services as it’s claimed a “lack of January departures” prevented Barcelona from bringing Rashford to the Nou Camp.

“I would like to thank Manchester United and Aston Villa for making this loan deal happen,” the 27-year-old said after leaving United for Villa Park.

“I was lucky to have a few clubs approach me but Aston Villa was an easy decision – I really admire the way that Aston Villa have been playing this season, and the manager’s ambitions.

“I just want to play football and am excited to get started. I wish everyone at Manchester United all the best for the rest of the season.”