Rio Ferdinand has insisted that one Manchester United player could still make the “difference” and revealed what made him “hard to play” against at one time in his career.
Ruben Amorim and his men returned to action on Saturday for the start of their pre-season tour and Manchester United faced Leeds United at the Strawberry Arena.
United and rivals Leeds United played out a 0-0 draw in the first half in Solna and neither side could break the deadlock in the second half of the friendly match.
Ruben Amorim was afforded the opportunity to try out his new United first-team players against Leeds in Sweden, including both Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon.
But the 40-year-old United manager had to walk away with a draw from the pre-season encounter with the newly promoted Premier League team on the weekend.
The Red Devils will continue their pre-season training under Amorim after United’s 0-0 draw with Leeds ahead of the start of the United States leg of the summer tour.
Rio Ferdinand reacts to Marcus Rashford moving to Barcelona and what the Man Utd and England star must do at the Camp Nou
Marcus Rashford is set to move to Barcelona and the 27-year-old England international has been heavily linked with the La Liga outfit this summer.
The Manchester United player has been training alone at the Carrington training complex after he was frozen out of the first-team squad under Ruben Amorim.
Rashford had been on loan at Aston Villa for the second half of the 2024-25 Premier League season, but the United forward’s deal with the club expired in June.
The former Aston Villa player returned to Old Trafford on 1st July and Rashford had been linked with clubs in both Europe and Saudi Arabia amid Barcelona’s interest.
Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Rashford will now have to fight at Barcelona for a place and revealed what he “hasn’t produced” for some time as a player.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the United legend said: “Where’s he going to play?
“He’s got to fight his way into this team. A lot of people, including myself, didn’t think this opportunity at Barcelona would actually be there for Marcus Rashford, given what he’s produced over the last two years.
“He hasn’t produced the Marcus Rashford that we first saw running in behind, aggressive runs, finishing things, shooting from crazy angles, assisting goals.”
Rio Ferdinand explains what Marcus Rashford is doing differently on the pitch ahead of the Man Utd player’s transfer to Barcelona
Marcus Rashford’s Barcelona transfer is on the verge of completion after the boyhood United fan arrived in Catalonia on Sunday night ahead of his move.
United have agreed to initially loan out Rashford to Barcelona for the 2025-26 season, but the deal would include an option to buy for the Three Lions forward.
Ferdinand has now claimed that Rashford’s playing style now sees the Barcelona-bound player dribbling with the ball more instead of making the runs behind players.
“His game has changed, wanting to dribble with the ball more,” he continued.
“But what made him hard to play against was that he was willing to run behind. He’s magic at that when he gets that right and when he’s consistent with that.
“He could be that difference for this Barcelona team. Raphinha doesn’t mind running in behind, but he does like it to feet. Lamine Yamal would rather get it to his feet and dribble.
“And Lewandowski is not someone who can run in behind as much anymore. He’s more of a target man, great finisher.”
According to ESPN, the price that United have set to make former Villa star Rashford’s move to the Camp Nou permanent is €30m ($34.9m).
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