Marcus Rashford has shared a New Year's message without even so much as mentioning Manchester United. The 28-year-old is currently flourishing during his loan spell with Barcelona, netting seven goals and providing 11 assists across 24 outings in all competitions.

It's been an incredibly productive year for Rashford, who earned a recall to the England squad on the back of his impressive form during temporary spells at both Aston Villa and Barcelona. Rashford has managed to capture the best moments of his year in nine photographs on Instagram, predominantly featuring him in a Barcelona shirt.

In his message, he wrote: "As 2025 comes to a close, I'm grateful for a year of change and self reflection. Stepping into 2026 feeling excited, motivated, and ready to be ambitious both in sport and life. MR14 [red and blue heart emoji]."

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Whilst there's no direct reference to United, there is a Villa photograph that shows the spot-kick he converted against Manchester City, which clearly indicates his pride in that particular moment.

Spain's winter break has meant Rashford and Barcelona have enjoyed an extended rest period - with their most recent match taking place 10 days ago on Sunday, December 21.

Rashford started that 2-0 triumph on the subs bench, but he then entered the action for the closing 28 minutes. Hansi Flick chose to field Raphinha, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal as his attacking three behind the striker, with the same trio getting the nod from the start in the Champions League victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Rashford subsequently provided an assist after coming off the bench in that match. Despite being overlooked on two occasions, Rashford responded to the team selection decisions in exemplary fashion, according to Flick.

He said: "I try to speak to every player when they are not selected and the last time I checked with him he replied me; 'Boss, you don't have to tell me about your decisions'," Flick said on Rashford. "'The most important thing is the team. We have to win the three points. The rest is not that important'.

"This is the perfect mentality. I'm so happy to have him. When he is on the bench, he shows that we have a good and deep squad. What I can say is that he is an absolutely professional player. In the beginning, he had to adapt a little bit, but now he is at his best level."

It comes as little shock that most Spanish media outlets are suggestingthat Flick would be keen for Barcelona to secure Rashford from United on a permanent basis next summer.

The purchase option included in his transfer is understood to be approximately £26million. Despite the relatively modest fee, questions remain over whether Barcelona could actually meet that figure, though, given their widely documented financial struggles.

Certain reports suggest that Barcelona must decide between Rashford and a high-profile striker signing, given the long-term worries over 37-year-old Robert Lewandowski.

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