Rashford’s situation is live again. He is back at Manchester United after Barcelona let his loan option lapse on June 15 without triggering the €30m permanent buy, and he started Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Everton before being substituted in the 70th minute.
That has revived the question of where he goes next, if he goes anywhere. Liverpool has been floated as a possible destination in recent transfer chatter. United’s answer to that specific question was written into Rashford’s contract months ago.
The “rival tax” in the contract
Goal, citing The Athletic, reported that Old Trafford chiefs had inserted “a ‘rival tax’ of sorts, specifically blocking local enemies Liverpool and Manchester City from triggering the cut-price fee.”
The Telegraph put the release figure at £40m and confirmed Liverpool and Manchester City cannot activate it. Rashford has two years left on his contract and earns roughly £325,000 per week. Any bid from Anfield would have to be negotiated on United’s terms, not through the mechanism written into the deal.
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The historical context is not incidental. A direct Manchester United-to-Liverpool transfer is one of English football’s near-mythical no-go moves. Making that specific block explicit in a contract is, at minimum, a signal to supporters.
Rashford back in the picture under Carrick
He is not being pushed out. Rashford was voted Manchester United fans’ Player of the Match in the 2-2 draw at Everton on September 5, before being substituted in the 70th minute.
Michael Carrick played down the withdrawal.
“Just had an issue, so nothing major,” the manager told reporters after the game.
Carrick had already made a point of reintegrating him during pre-season, when Rashford joined the rest of the squad in Dublin.
“We have a full squad next week in Dublin,” Carrick said in August. “We fly straight there and meet Leeds on Wednesday. We have a few days in Dublin where we have the whole squad, including Marcus, Kobbie and Lisandro.”
The environment has shifted around him
Ruben Amorim, whose falling-out with Rashford triggered the loan moves to Aston Villa and then Barcelona, left Old Trafford in January and is now head coach at AC Milan. Carrick was reappointed United’s head coach on January 13, 2026, and the club he inherited is not looking to move Rashford on. It is looking to use him.
For Liverpool, the practical position is unchanged. They can watch. They cannot buy him for £40m.
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