The justification for this shift in stance—less than six weeks ago, Deco explicitly named Rashford as a player Barcelona “liked”—is the preference for Liverpool forward Luis Díaz. The Colombia international is deemed to be more versatile, more experienced and more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team than Rashford.

Barcelona’s summer plans took an unexpected hit when Nico Williams changed his mind at the last minute. After it looked like he was coming to Camp Nou, he chose to stay at Athletic Club instead,

FC Barcelona have reportedly decided to ‘activated Plan B’ after missing out on Nico Williams, with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford among three options. Earlier this week, Barcelona were dealt a huge transfer blow as Spain international Williams pulled out of a move to the Spanish giants and signed a long-term contract extension at Athletic Bilbao.