Arsenal are planning ways to strengthen their forward line in the summer as Mikel Arteta continues to shape his dream squad.
Plenty of names have been shortlisted, with the likes of Alexander Isak, Jonathan David, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Darwin Nunez all linked with moves to north London over the past few weeks. However, in what would be a surprise transfer, Manchester United star Marcus Rashford is the latest frontman to be touted with a transfer to the Emirates.
According to the Mirror, Arsenal could make a surprise offer for Rashford. It's been a rather frustrating year for the England international on the pitch, who has only made 10 league appearances for the Red Devils, with interim manager Ralf Rangnick favouring both Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga ahead of him.
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The Englishman has struggled in the Premier League so far this season, finding the net just four times for his club. His poor form has sparked rumours that he could be ready for a fresh start, and Arsenal have emerged as a potential destination.
Whilst it may seem like a good option for the 24-year-old, plenty of pundits think that he just needs time to resettle at United, and that the club would be foolish to allow him to leave. One of those is Arsenal legend, Paul Merson.
Speaking to Sky Sports earlier this month, Merson suggested that nobody in their right mind should even consider selling the 24-year-old forward despite his recent poor form.
“It’s been two or three months and there is talk of Rashford being moved on. Seriously?” he said. “No manager in their right mind would come to Old Trafford and offload Rashford."
He added: "Even if I was going to take over the club as manager tomorrow morning, I wouldn’t be letting Rashford go!
"This is why Manchester United are in a shambles. How haven’t they got a manager in place now? Whoever does come in as manager isn’t going to get rid of Rashford, so the move will have to be done before then, that’s if it is going [to] happen.”
Merson isn't the only one who thinks that leaving United isn't the right thing for Rashford's career either, as Gary Neville is of a similar opinion. "I get the fact he's not playing at the moment, his form is poor," he told Sky Sports, via the Mirror. "He's drained of confidence. No one knows what's happened to him.
"He looks completely uncomfortable and unhappy on the pitch. When he came on against Atletico Madrid, again, he just looked like there was nothing there. He needs to get to the end of this season. He needs to regroup, reset and probably just, you know, I had a period like that in my football career at Manchester United.
"In 2000 I had to get to the summer and re-evaluate. Maybe I wasn't under as much scrutiny at the time.
"But I do feel like Marcus Rashford needs to just go away this summer. Four weeks where he reassesses himself, reassesses what he wants in life, who he wants around him. He needs to reassess what's important to him and get back to doing what he was doing before, which is playing football really well with that freedom.
"He's not playing with freedom at this moment in time. I'd hate to think that an academy player at the age of nine, that's got great talent, would leave just after his first bad period, even though it's probably been 12 to 18 months now."
Rashford to Arsenal would certainly be a surprise transfer, but stranger things have happened in football. It may well be the beginning of a lengthy transfer saga.
