We've had those three words that I think a lot of us wanted hear including Marcus Rashford himself. I don't need to tell you how badly this guy wanted to move to Barcelona and now it's a reality.
Romano says that "Marcus Rashford to Barcelona, here we go!
Verbal agreement in principle between all parties involved with Barça planning for medical tests next days.
Loan deal with buy option, details being finalised today then Man Utd will authorize his travel to Spain."
I don't like the fact that it's a loan to buy option. We needed to sell him and bring in some funds as after securing Mbeumo for £71m, United may not have that much money left in their budget to sign others and there's certainly more players that need to come in.
I also believe that this deal is brilliant for Barca even more so because Florian Plettenberg says that he "understands it's almost a free loan, and Rashford is taking a significant salary cut to make the loan move happen."
A free loan means that they won't be paying United anything for the player. Usually clubs pay a few million to secure the player's services for however long so this isn't an ideal situation for United.
However, David Ornstein has said that Barca will pay Rashford's entire salary as part of this loan deal. What that salary will be remains to be seen especially if he does take a wage cut. His current deal at United sees him earn £300k-a-week.
We know that Rashford only wanted Barca but they really wanted others. At first, it was Nico Williams but then he signed an extension at Bilbao. Then it was Luis Diaz but they faced issues with Liverpool for that deal. Rashford was the next option, third on the list of left-wingers.
I've always felt like Barca saw Rashford as a backup if they didn't get their first targets. That is exactly what's happened. If they truly wanted him, he would've been a priority like Williams or Diaz, or they would've bought him outright instead of this loan deal.
Tbh, it's not the best deal but I think we just needed to move him on in however which way. He needed to move for himself because he was never going to play for Amorim.
At 27 years old, he is in the prime of his career and needs to play regular football. The fact that he's managed to get his dream move of playing for Barcelona makes things even better.
However, I'm not sure how he will be used by Hansi Flick, who apparently spoke to Rashford before all of these reports came out. His best position is on the left-wing but that is where Raphinha plays. The Brazilian was magnificent for Flick last season as he scored 34 goals and had 25 assists and was (and perhaps still is) on course to win the Ballon d'Or.
Rashford isn't going to be replacing that.
Barca will be playing a lot of football so of course rotation will occur but will he be happy being a backup to any of their front three of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski or Lamine Yamal? At least Rashford is versatile so he has options.
I do think that he would work in Flick's system as they do play at quite a fast pace and are very deadly on the counter and in transitions, something that Rashford thrives on. There is also speed and skill that he can bring to the table but he will have to work hard as the German loves his attackers to press high up the pitch.
Rashford isn't necessarily a player who does that and in the end, it just depends on something that Amorim said not long after becoming United manager: "if he wants it really, really bad."
This 👉🏿🧑🏿 was his celebration and it really is all about that mindset. Should he get himself in order, it should work out for him.
But I guess for at least one season, Marcus Rashford will be away from United again.
What is everyone's thoughts?
Marcus Rashford secures loan move to Barcelona | Marcus Rashford: Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images via Sempre Inter