Hansi Flick believes moving to a new country and embracing another culture has been integral to Marcus Rashford’s eye-catching form for Barcelona.
The forward finally earned his dream move to Barcelona over the summer, joining the club on loan from Manchester United, and has made an impressive start to life in Catalonia.
Six goals and seven assists in 16 appearances is already as many goal contributions as he achieved in the entirety of the 2023–24 season, with his returns for Barça also earning the 28-year-old regular England appearances under Thomas Tuchel.
Arriving into a star-studded forward line that already contained Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, Rashford has proven his worth to Flick, who is delighted with the loanee’s displays.
Speaking before Barça’s Champions League clash with Chelsea on Tuesday, Flick said: “I’m really very happy. He came back from a cold, but he’s OK. We’ll decide [on Tuesday] if he starts or not. But I’m happy to have him in our team.
“I followed him his whole career, I was impressed with his quality, what he’s doing in the box in front of the opponent’s goal. He has shown it in Barcelona.
“Also, for him this change to live in another culture, with fantastic people, nice weather, it’s amazing. We can see now he’s also smiling a lot. If he can enjoy the atmosphere we have it’s also very good.”
