Barcelona are hesitant about forcing through a loan move for Marcus Rashford this month but would be interested in signing the Manchester United forward permanently in the summer.

Sources say Deco, the Barcelona sporting director, is not overly eager to conclude a deal for Rashford before Monday's transfer deadline.

Barcelona have the budget to facilitate a loan move for Rashford but would also have to sell two players within the next three days. United have held discussions with a Spanish agency regarding a potential transfer.

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Rashford, 27, earns £325,000-a-week at United and his salary has so far prevented him from leaving the club six weeks on from when he publicly outlined his desire for a "new challenge".

United are reluctant to pay the majority of Rashford's wages for a loan move as they feel they should not foot the bill for a player who wants to leave the club.

A possible mid-season move to Barcelona is further complicated by the club's financial situation. La Liga and the Spanish football association deregistered the Barcelona players Dani Olmo and Pau Victor after the club could not meet the league's salary cap restrictions. The summer signings were only registered for the first half of the season.

Olmo and Victor were granted permission to play by the Spanish national sports council, pending the final outcome of Barcelona's appeal to re-register the pair. La Liga president Javier Tebas told Marca this week: "If we believe that he (Olmo) should not be registered, we obviously believe that we have a chance that he will not be registered."

United's bargaining position with Rashford was weakened last week when head coach Ruben Amorim suggested he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach, Jorge Vital, than Rashford.

Amorim softened his stance on the eve of United's Europa League win against FCSB, admitting United "are a better team with Marcus Rashford" but that the forward must "change" if he is to play for the club again.

Rashford has not played in United's past 12 matches and he has been omitted from all but one of their matchday squads during that run.

Barcelona are long-time admirers of Rashford but he has managed a meagre 15 club goals since he signed a five-year contract with United in July 2023.