Marcus Rashford’s future at Manchester United continues to dominate the agenda for the January transfer window with many clubs linked to the player.
From Italy to France and scattered links in Turkey and Spain with Barcelona, it’s easier to point out the major clubs who haven’t been linked to Marcus Rashford than those who have.
Among them, the most concrete links have been with AC Milan, from Milan able to pay his salary, to them presenting conditions for a deal, which is a development that has moved quickly.
Now, both Zlatan Ibrahimovic, senior advisor at Milan, and Sergio Conceicao, their manager, have said the same thing about Rashford, with Ibrahimovic particularly convinced of one thing.
Sergio Conceicao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Marcus Rashford
Milan are on a high right now under new manager Conceicao, winning the Italian Super Cup with consecutive victories over Juventus and Inter Milan.
Conceicao is the toast of Milan right now so it’s fairly easy to assume that if he wants a player in January, the owners will be more than happy to accommodate his demand.
Ibrahimovic, on the other hand, is the ace in the hole at Milan if needed when it comes to beating out rivals for Rashford’s signature.
He was at Old Trafford when Rashford was truly breaking through under Jose Mourinho so a word from him can go a long way towards swaying his mind.
Conceicao was recently asked about Rashford potentially joining Milan in January and while he cut an irritated figure at the question due to it being a rumour at this point, he refused to rule it out.
Conceicao said: “In Portugal, it’s even worse. Here we talk about football, and every now and then someone tries this. Rashford is a good player like many others, some are on the market, others are not, let’s see what happens.”
Like Conceicao, Ibrahimovic also praised Rashford’s quality while saying the same thing that they haven’t spoken to him yet. However, he was sure that no persuasion would be needed to turn Rashford’s head.
Ibrahimovic said: “I know Rashford very well, I played with him when he was young, now he’s a grown-up and has done great things with Man Utd.
“I don’t think I need to convince him, because Milan are one of the biggest clubs in the world and everyone wants to come here.
“As of today, it is not an easy operation, but we have not spoken to him yet. We’ll see if we will speak to him.”
Rashford is highly likely to end January away from Man Utd
Whether he ends up joining Milan or not, it is looking increasingly that Rashford will end the January transfer window in another club’s colours.
There’s simply too much smoke about potential interest in him, with players and managers elsewhere talking about that, that doesn’t happen if the interest is concrete.
Other clubs clearly see Rashford as having untapped potential which can only be unlocked away from Man Utd, which is understandable.
For the club, a bidding war developing for Rashford is good news too, because his wages mean he’d be difficult to shift in normal circumstances.
Milan have acknowledged that problem as well which is why Ibrahimovic also says it would be a difficult operation but at least there’s interest.
As long as there is a will on both sides to do a deal, something should happen close to the deadline day to see who blinks first. United would do well to turn a chapter on this.
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