Man Utd transfer failure could be key to Rashford avoiding Barcelona nightmare

Marcus Rashford still hasn't been registered with La Liga ahead of Barcelona's first game of the season away to Mallorca on Saturday, although progress is being made

Manchester United's failure to sign West Ham star Jean-Clair Tobido 12 months ago could hold the key to Marcus Rashford finally being registered by Barcelona. Rashford, 27, joined Barca last month on a season-long loan but the England international still isn't officially part of Hansi Flick's squad for La Liga matches.

That's alongside fellow new signings Joan Garcia and Roony Bardghji as well as Wojciech Szczesny and Gerard Martin. This is due to Barcelona still having issues registering new players within La Liga's salary cap.

With just three days to go until Barca begin their league campaign away to Mallorca, they've got a race against the clock. But Tobido's permanent move to West Ham has been boost.

The French defender spent last season with the Premier League club on loan from French side Nice before a deal worth €40million (£34m) was completed this July. Thanks to inserting a sell-on clause when they sold him to Nice, Barcelona recouped €8m (£6.9m).

That was a handy injection of cash for the La Liga champions, who could earn a further sum through the sale of Real Betis winger Ez Abde. Barca have a sell-on clause which, if Roma pay the reported €20m (£17.2m), would see them bank €4m (£3.4m).

Todibo's journey, however, could've been very different. United were interested in signing the 25-year-old last summer, only for UEFA to block the transfer.

That was because Red Devils co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe also owns a majority stake in Nice and due to both teams being in the 2024-25 Europa League, Ratcliffe had to place the Ligue 1 outfit into a blind trust to avoid flouting UEFA's multi-club ownership rules.

European football's governing body also prevented the two clubs from trading players, infuriating Ratcliffe. During an interview with Bloomberg, the INEOS chairman hit out at UEFA chiefs and referenced indirectly Todibo's situation.

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"They've said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can't sell to Manchester United," Ratcliffe told Bloomberg. "But that's not fair on the player and I don't see what that achieves."

Back at Barcelona, club president Joan Laporta is confident that Rashford and his four team-mates will be registered in time. "It's progressing well," Laporta said earlier this month. "We're doing our job and we're confident that we'll be able to register everyone."

Rashford added: "It's something for the club to sort out. I believe they are going to get it sorted. I just focus on training and be ready for the start of the season."