Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha accused the Red Devils of overburdening Marcus Rashford as he backed the United outcast to shine in La Liga if Barcelona come calling. Rashford left Old Trafford in January to join Aston Villa on a short-term loan deal. The attacker is now back in Manchester but is expected to leave his boyhood club permanently.

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Ex-United star backed Rashford to shine at BarcelonaBarca rekindle interest in United outcastUnited accused of overburdening RashfordFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Rashford has been linked with a transfer to Barcelona all summer and GOAL understands that the player will move out of United permanently. With the Catalan giants missing out on Nico Williams, who extended his stay at Athletic Club by signing a 10-year deal last week, they have now shifted their focus to the Red Devils outcast.

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Premier League legend Saha has backed the English forward to shine in Spain if the Blaugrana decide to sign him this summer. The Frenchman also accused his ex-club of overburdening their academy graduate with too much responsibility.

WHAT SAHA SAID

Speaking to , the 46-year-old said: "No, I think he's a top player. He has a bit of a similar trajectory to what’s going on with Alejandro Garnacho. He arrived early but he developed without the right kind of players and people around him, maybe his entourage was a bad influence. He played with Wayne Rooney, but soon he was the main man, who was given too much responsibility.

"Maybe he was burdened with too much by the club, and it’s hard to just blame the player when the club expected so much from him. Perhaps it is unfair to expect so much and he simply could not cope with those demands. But in terms of quality, Rashford is still one of the best in the world on his day. He’s unbelievable, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s interested in Barcelona and they’re interested in him. He could be a great player for a big club."

He added: "The question for Marcus is if he can ever do it again regularly, can he be untouchable like he once was? He used to excel, and he’d be joining a really confident Barcelona squad with teenagers who are already unplayable. Lamine Yamal could be a Ballon d’Or winner soon, it’s crazy. Then there’s Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, players like that who just don’t mess around. They know their job. Does Rashford?"

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

Ruben Amorim has already completed three signings, including the high-profile transfer of Matheus Cunha from Wolves. They are now inching closer to securing a move for Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford and have also been linked to Valencia's Javi Guerra.