Paul Pogba gives view on Rashford's Barça transfer with pointed Man Utd message

Marcus Rashford is close to completing his loan move from Manchester United to Barcelona with former team-mate Paul Pogba hoping his switch is a massive success

Paul Pogba insists Marcus Rashford "will be great for Barcelona" as he backed him to be a success away from Manchester United - whom he criticised for taking the player's shirt number away.

The forward, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, is set to join the Spanish giants for the season. He is not part of Ruben Amorim's plans and a move away was always on the cards this summer with Rashford set to benefit.

The 27-year-old arrived in Barcelona on Sunday night after getting permission from United to complete his loan switch. A deal was agreed in principle over the weekend, which will see him move to the La Liga champion for a year before they have the option to buy.

Rashford scored the first goal of the Amorim-era but quickly fell out of favour. The head coach publicly called out some of the player's habits and he's since seen his No 10 taken away given to new signing Matheus Cunha.

Pogba, who played with Rashford for six years, hopes that he goes on to be a major success at Barcelona, where he will complement the likes of Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.

Pogba during a YouTube live stream with IShowSpeed: "That's crazy. I'm happy for him because they took his number out." He went on to add: "Manchester United, they're losing a great player.

"Marcus Rashford, that will be great for Barcelona, to be honest. I'm not even talking about Manchester United because they've bought two players and the new manager wants to do his thing, I guess, so it's not really his fault if he doesn't believe in someone. He needs to win at the end, you know, if he doesn't play well, he doesn't win, they're gonna sack him. But, like, I'm happy for Marcus."

Back in 2021, when Pogba was still on the books in Manchester, the Frenchman claimed that his compatriot Kylian Mbappe and Rashford were "the present and the future of football" after excelling as showcasing their potential across a number of years.

The United academy graduate has previously excelled in Manchester, scoring 30 times during Erik ten Hag's first season in 2022/23. His numbers have since dropped off, but he was able to rediscover some of his best form whilst at Villa Park last term. Rashford has been holding out for a move to Barcelona despite Premier League clubs also expressing an interest in him.