Arsenal have been linked with a loan move for Marcus Rashford, according to reports. The sourcing is relatively thin for the rumors, but this isn’t the first time the Gunners have come up in connection with the Manchester United winger. There were rumblings before the World Cup, too.
Rashford, 28, had a solid season on loan to Barcelona — 14G, 11A in 49 appearances in all competitions. About half of those appearances came as a substitute. Those totals are slightly inflated by Barca’s all-out-attack setup and the prodigious attacking talent around him, but he’s produced in the Premier League, too. His teammates in Spain seemed to like him. The sticking point would be his reported £325K weekly wages.
With Gabriel Martinelli close to a permanent transfer to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, Arsenal will soon have a roster spot for an attacker, particularly one that plays (or at least can play) left wing. Julian Alvarez, who isn’t a left winger per se but can play off the left, has been the primary target all summer. But it’s a “complicated” move to make work and the close of the transfer window is rapidly approaching.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, therefore, that the rumor mill is cranking back up. I think the re-emerging Rashford links are a product, at the very least, of people realizing that the move for Alvarez may not come off and trying to connect the dots on where Arsenal might turn should that happen. You’d expect (or at least hope) that Arsenal, Andrea Berta, and Mikel Arteta are working on contingency plans.
Loaning Marcus Rashford in would be a perfectly fine move. It wouldn’t be a particularly exciting one but as I’ve said throughout this transfer window, not all of them can be. It probably wouldn’t raise Arsenal’s ceiling much, but it certainly would raise the floor. Rashford is a quality, top-flight and Champions League proven player, who will get himself on the scoresheet. He is blisteringly fast, which would be a nice addition to an Arsenal squad that, while not slow, lacks killer pace outside of Noni Madueke. He has star-level player upside even if his recent body of work is more that of strong supporting player.
Would Marcus Rashford be an upgrade over Gabriel Martinelli? Probably not an appreciable one. His attacking output is better, his defensive application isn’t. It’d be more a stopgap move than anything else. But if it comes down to it, I’d rather fill that gap in the roster with Rashford than a rotating cast of Noni Madueke on his off-wing and Ebere Eze, who I think is better in a more central role, and a player to be named later who also isn’t a true winger. Rashford knows the Premier League and knows the Arsenal England lads, so there wouldn’t be much of an adjustment period needed.
It doesn’t strike me as particularly likely to happen. If it does, it’ll be a Deadline Day move when nothing else has come together. In that case, sure, why not.
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