Rashford, Barcelona and Carrick’s stance
Michael Carrick would love to have Marcus Rashford back in his Manchester United squad this season. That’s the view of Carrick's former Red Devils teammate Wes Brown, who also believes his old side also need to sign another centre-forward this summer - with Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins linked.
Rashford's hopes of a return to Barcelona are all but over after the Catalan club announced the signing of Karim Adeyemi on Thursday. Adeyemi is Barcelona's second signing of the summer, after they bought Anthony Gordon for just under £70m from Newcastle United.
The Red Devils, though, are keen to offload Rashford's £325,000-a-week wages, as that salary no longer fits within the wage structure at Old Trafford. However, Brown believes Carrick would jump at the chance to reintegrate him into the squad.
"I'm sure Michael Carrick would love him back because it gives him another option," Brown told the Mirror.
If he could come into the scene this season, that helps out massively.
"I'm still not sure what's going to happen, but I think if it was just up to Michael, he would definitely be back in. Obviously Marcus would have loved to have probably stayed at Barca. They went another way, so I'm not sure what other options there really are.
"For me, it’s always time. People always fall out and you can always rekindle things in football. It's just the way it is.
"I think it'll be a boost for Michael for him to be here next season. He's on a lot of money, Marcus, so I think that's the only point that may make a move more difficult.
"He's a great player. His spells in the World Cup were showing it as well. It's a decision everyone's going to have to come to very soon."
United have already completed deals for Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans from Chelsea and Aston Villa for a combined £85million.
But former Red Devils defender Brown, speaking via LiveFootballTickets, believes his old side needs to sign at least one more striker if they are to challenge for trophies again.
"Obviously we needed to improve midfield," he said. "We've done that. We've done really well there. I think it's two great signings for the price as well.
"We've got one No.9 in [Benjamin] Sesko, [Matheus] Cunha can play there, but I think that area probably could be boosted. I think centre-half is fine, but I’m not sure about what happened to [Lisandro] Martinez in the final.
"And then there's [Matthijs] De Ligt who hasn't featured [since November]. I would love another striker.
"I think when you're looking to win trophies, you probably need two or three that are all fighting for that place. I don't think we're quite there yet, but I do like the way we've done business."
Agreeing with Carrick, former United forward Louis Saha said:
"I would love for them to sign an experienced striker who could help develop Benjamin Sesko.
"He is a promising striker with incredible talent, so I would love to see him improve this season. I think signing a striker to guide and challenge him would be a smart move.
"United could also benefit from more defensive depth due to the increased number of games they will play this season.
"I think signing cover at left-back and centre-back would be ideal so that they have flexibility in their squad and so when they rest players, the quality in the team doesn’t diminish."
Speaking via LiveFootballTickets, the Frenchman added:
"I am concerned that the current Man United squad won’t be able to cope with the demands of next season.
"They are going to be in four competitions for the majority of the season, playing twice a week, which is a drastic change for these players compared to last season. It is also a big change for Michael Carrick, and it will be a real test of both he and his players' resolve next season."
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