"Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has followed Marcus Rashford's career closely, dating way back to his emergence as a teenager at Manchester United. When the chance to sign the England forward on loan was put on the table this past summer, Flick's message to sporting director Deco was a simple one: "I told him we have to do it. Marcus is an outstanding player, exactly what we needed.""
"The plan was to ease Rashford in slowly, let him settle into life in a new country and slowly learn the mechanisms of what the Barça coach wants from him, but a series of injuries across the attacking positions have instead thrust him into a major role for the Spanish champions. With 11 games played in all competitions, Rashford is one of just four players to have featured in every match -- the other three are Pedri, Eric García and Jules Koundé. With three goals and four assists, he leads Barça in goal contributions heading into the team's biggest week of the season so far."
Hansi Flick tracked Marcus Rashford since his teenage emergence at Manchester United and advocated strongly for a loan move to Barcelona. The original plan aimed for gradual integration to allow Rashford to settle and learn the coach's system, but injuries among attacking players accelerated his prominence. Rashford has featured in every match through 11 games, producing three goals and four assists to lead Barcelona's goal contributions. He will start in a Champions League tie against Olympiacos and will make his first El Clásico at Real Madrid, after scouting and negotiations began about a year earlier involving his brother-agent Dwaine Maynard.
Read at ESPN.com
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