Barcelona ready to ditch Rashford in favour of England teammate

Barcelona have made Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane their top target for 2026, which may spell bad news for Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford.

The Blaugrana are in the market for a long-term replacement for Poland international Robert Lewandowski. The 37-year-old is out of contract in the summer, and it is widely expected that he will depart Barcelona.

Several big-name strikers have been associated with the reigning LaLiga champions as potential targets, chiefly Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez, who refused to close the door to a move when he addressed Barcelona’s interest a few days ago.

However, The Guardian now claims that Bayern Munich star Harry Kane has become Barcelona’s top target to replace Lewandowski next summer. The England captain has been in stunning form this term, and this hasn’t gone unnoticed in Catalunya.

Kane has repeatedly insisted that he is loving life in Munich and is not considering leaving in 2026, but the report asserts that a move to Barcelona would appeal to the Tottenham legend.

Kane to Barcelona: A far-fetched dream?

The outlet draws attention to the fact that Kane can be signed for a fairly reasonable price for a player of his quality due to his €65 million release clause. However, what it fails to mention is that this clause needs to be triggered in January.

Kane is one of a select few Bayern players with a release clause, and the Bundesliga giants made sure that his exit option is a complicated one. Should the 32-year-old wish to move in the summer, he would have to formally communicate the decision to trigger his clause in January.

This effectively means that Barcelona would have to commit to a €65m summer spend already in the winter, and this seems incredibly unlikely given their current financial uncertainty and ongoing registration issues.

By extension, this would also cast doubt on Marcus Rashford’s long-term future with the club. Barcelona have a purchase option worth over €30m for the Man Utd loanee, and the expectation is that they will exercise it.

Both Kane and Rashford are on handsome wages, and it is doubtful that Barcelona would be able to register both unless they agree to some major financial manoeuvring. It would also mark the club’s biggest summer spend in four years.

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