Manchester United's new ' Cristiano Ronaldo rule' could be put to the test with Marcus Rashford in talks over a new bumper contract, according to reports.
It was reported earlier this month that United will introduce a salary cap of £200,000 per-week to ensure that there's no bad blood in the Old Trafford dressing room when it comes to wages. The Red Devils are set to implement the law after United waved goodbye to Ronaldo and his £480,000-a-week contract in November.
Chief executive Richard Arnold, football director John Murtough and manager Erik ten Hag have devised the strategy in an effort to move away from a culture of jealousy within the team. David de Gea is now the highest earner at the club ahead of Jadon Sancho - but the goalkeeper could see his wages slashed if he signs fresh terms.
However, it has since emerged that in-form Rashford could be handed a new £300k-a-week deal, having impressed under Ten Hag in recent months. The 25-year-old is currently pocketing £200k-per-week but could be offered a 50% pay rise after scoring in each of his last seven matches in all competitions.
As per the Sun, United are in talks over giving Rashford a fresh five-year contract but do not want to go above £300k-a-week - which is a third more than the capped amount that was reported on January 8. But the Red Devils see putting Rashford on a long-term deal as a priority and are ready to get it done quickly, whilst they are also unwilling to budge from their increased limit.
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Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has already expressed an interest in Rashford and admitted he would be keen to bring the England international over to France. Before United activated Rashford's one-year option in his contract, Al-Khelaifi opened up on the possible prospect of signing the forward.
"He’s another player that is really amazing," Al-Khelaifi told Sky Sports. "And for free? To have Rashford for free, every club would run after him, definitely. We’re not hiding it, we spoke before and… interest. But the moment was not a good moment for both sides. Maybe, summer, why not?
"Today if he’s a free agent of course we can talk to him directly but we are not going to talk to him now. Let him focus on the World Cup. Then after in January, hopefully, if we’re interested we will talk to him."
The new approach from United over wages comes after the disastrous high-money deals handed out to Alexis Sanchez and Ronaldo. Casemiro earns the premium £300k salary from United and while De Gea's 2019 deal saw him earn a staggering £375k per-week, that was slashed by 25 percent this season after the club failed to secure Champions League football. De Gea's new deal is set to be considerably lower than that sum.
