Jermaine Jenas has been talking about Barcelona and their decision to sign Anthony Gordon instead of Marcus Rashford.
The former Newcastle United midfielder discussing the transfer a few weeks after the deal went through.
Anthony Gordon signing for the La Liga champions after Barcelona and Newcastle United agreed a £70m deal.
Marcus Rashford was on loan for the 2025/26 season with Barca.
The Catalan club had a £26m option to make the move permanent as part of that loan arrangement yet chose not to exercise it.
Jermaine Jenas asked by 10bet if Barcelona were right to sign Anthony Gordon ahead of Marcus Rashford: “I wouldn’t say that it makes sense, no. I love Anthony Gordon, I think he’s a top player and I’m so happy for him. I’m so pleased that he’s going to be able to go and experience life at Barcelona, one of the biggest football clubs on the planet. It will adapt his game, it will change his game really help his development. But I don’t know… it was one of those ones where my understanding was that there was a clause where they could have picked up Rashford permanently for a fraction of what they ended up paying for Anthony Gordon – a player who had already been at the club on loan, had won La Liga there, so it just seemed to make more sense to stick with him.”
Manchester United are forever ruing their decision to hand Marcus Rashford an astonishing new contract back in 2023.
He was set to walk away for nothing as a free agent and Man U panicked, giving Rashford an £18m a year basic contract plus bonuses. He then scored only seven goals in 33 Premier League appearances in the 2023/24 season and has only started 12 Premier League matches for Man U these past two years.
Jermaine Jenas adding this on the Barcelona choosing Anthony Gordon over Marcus Rashford: “Now whether the disparity in their wage demands were just chalk and cheese, I don’t know. But it still doesn’t quite add up when you look at the big money they’ve spent on Anthony Gordon. So I definitely wouldn’t say it makes total sense, because I don’t look at Anthony Gordon and think he’s that much better than Marcus Rashford, or vice versa. It felt like a financial decision in my head, unless there’s something behind the scenes that we don’t know. I mean, it was only a couple of seasons ago they were trying to sign Nico Williams to do that whole partnership on the wings with Lamine Yamal, and I think Athletic Bilbao blocked it at the time. You can easily see Nico having another incredible World Cup now, so I’m surprised that’s not a route Barcelona looked at instead. I don’t know what the exact situation is with Marcus, but if he is to leave Man U permanently, I think Arsenal should be going after him in a heartbeat anyway.”