Marcus Rashford given green light for dream Barcelona transfer after two key moments

Marcus Rashford looks set to join Barcelona on loan, having fallen out of favour at Manchester United after Ruben Amorim took charge of the club in November last year

Marcus Rashford is closing in on a move to Barcelona, with the Manchester United star expected to join the LaLiga giants on loan with an option to buy. Rashford spent the second half of last season out on loan at Aston Villa after he was frozen out at Old Trafford by Ruben Amorim.

And talks over a move to Barcelona are in the final stages after manager Hansi Flick approved the deal. Rashford has made no secret of his desire to join Barcelona, telling Spanish influencer Javi Ruiz that he would like to play alongside Lamine Yamal.

When asked about the prospect of being teammates with Yamal, Rashford replied: "Yeah, sure. Everybody in the world wants to play with the best. So hopefully, we'll see. (Yamal) is gonna be… it's difficult to put into words what he's doing because he's not supposed to be doing it at 16, 17.

"He's playing at the highest level, I don't think we've seen it. To have his mentality is a skill. He's not normal to be doing what he does and he will keep improving.

"Spain is nice, it's not too far from home. If I'm training over a long period, my family can come for a few days, it's a nice location and good weather."

Barcelona's move for Rashford was approved by Flick earlier this month after he was impressed by the forward when they held talks. They have been looking to sign a new winger all summer and their financial issues have had a major impact.

Nico Williams had agreed personal terms, but ended up signing a new 10-year contract with Athletic Bilbao after it emerged that Barcelona would not be able to register him due to LaLiga's financial fair play rules.

Barcelona were also interested in Liverpool winger Luis Diaz, but the Reds do not want to sell the Colombia international and rejected a £58.6million offer from Bayern Munich earlier this month.

And when quizzed on Barcelona's interest in both Rashford and Diaz in May, Flick said: "This is what we have talked about with the club. In the last matches maybe we did not have a lot of options in that position… so we have to bring more options to the team and more quality.

"This is the job from Deco, is clear, and I will support him. I don't want to speak about players which are not in my team, but of course Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford are fantastic players. I like them and we'll see what happens."