Deco reveals real reason Barcelona snubbed Marcus Rashford to sign Anthony Gordon instead

Barcelona chief Deco has revealed the real reason the club chose not to sign Marcus Rashford.

Marcus Rashford and Manchester United were left stunned in the summer when Barcelona chose not to take up their £26 million purchase option.

Barcelona moved to sign Anthony Gordon from Newcastle instead, paying more than double the price.

Gordon has enjoyed an impressive start at Barcelona to justify their investment, with four assists in four La Liga games.

Deco believes Barcelona made the right choice, and explains how they felt Gordon offers them something that Rashford could not.

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Speaking to Spanish channel RAC1, Deco explained that Anthony Gordon fits Barcelona’s style of play better.

He said: “We are extremely grateful to Rashford. He contributed a lot last season, but our idea of play is much more linked to Anthony. His style fits with what the coach is looking for.”

Deco elaborated to say that Gordon brings intensity to the Barcelona attack.

“We have a clear idea what we’re looking for. One of the areas we struggled last season, without Raphinha, was that the team’s energy dropped. It was lost.

“We needed more intensity. We analysed a lot of wingers. Signing someone from the Premier League is almost impossible, but [Flick] was clear with what he wanted and we worked on a deal from there.”

It seems that Barcelona shared similar reservations over Rashford that have been expressed by Manchester United fans prior to this season.

Rashford’s poor work out of possession was regarded as a weakness to his play.

To be fair, Rashford has shown signs of improving this at United in 2026/27 – but it is a really small sample size and he is on a mission to win fans back over.

Can he keep it up? Perhaps he has been genuinely stung by the Barcelona snub and taken it as an incentive to fix the weak area to his game.

If he does, credit to him. Deco’s words should be a wake-up call if Barcelona’s actions already weren’t.