Marcus Rashford has been given the chance to revive his career at Barcelona with a season-long loan move from Manchester United announced Wednesday.
The England forward, once considered among Europe’s top talents, has seen his career stall after falling out of favor at United and ending last season on loan at Aston Villa.
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Marcus Rashford poses during his presentation as a new F.C. Barcelona player in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Marcus Rashford smiles during his presentation as a new F.C. Barcelona player in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Marcus Rashford poses with an F.C. Barcelona jersey during his presentation as a new signing in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Marcus Rashford poses with an F.C. Barcelona jersey during his presentation as a new signing in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
The 27-year-old Rashford will join a Barcelona attack that includes young star Lamine Yamal, Brazil international Raphinha and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski.
“Barça is a place where dreams come true. Here good players can enjoy the game ,and I really love football,” Rashford said. "I am looking forward to helping and I want to win trophies. One of the reasons I came is that motivation and the ambition to be a better player.”
Rashford had arrived in Barcelona on Sunday to sign his contract. He had already met his teammates and reportedly trained with the group on Tuesday.
“I am really grateful for the welcome that the fans have given me and I can’t wait to make my debut in the jersey,” said Rashford, who will wear the No. 14 jersey with the Catalan club.
Financial details were not immediately disclosed. Spanish media said the agreement with United would give Barcelona an option to buy Rashford for about 30 million euros ($35 million).
Spanish champion Barcelona had looked set to sign Spain forward Nico Williams this offseason until he agreed a 10-year deal to stay at Athletic Bilbao earlier this month. That opened the door for Rashford to make the switch.
Barcelona had the best attack in Spanish soccer and one of the most prolific across Europe last season, but had been trying to add another piece to the front line to go along with Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski.
The trio helped the club score 102 goals as it won the Spanish league title, 24 goals more than runner-up Real Madrid. The Catalan club also led the Champions League in goals with 43, five more than champion Paris Saint-Germain, before being eliminated by Inter Milan in the semifinals.
Rashford is the third signing for the Barcelona squad coached by Hansi Flick ahead of the new season. The club had added goalkeeper Joan García from city rival Espanyol and winger Roony Bardghji from Copenhagen.
Barcelona was optimistic it will be able to register the new players despite struggling to meet financial fair play rules in recent years. Last season, it was in danger of not being able to register Dani Olmo because of salary-cap rules. The club already made some cap room for next season thanks to the departure of Pablo Torre, Ansu Fati and Clement Lenglet.
Rashford had progressed through United's famed academy that produced greats like Ryan Giggs and David Beckham. He made 429 appearances, scored 138 goals and helped United win five major trophies, including two FA Cups and the Europa League.
But he struggled to consistently live up to the hype that surrounded him when he burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2016 — only managing 20 goals or more in three seasons. In his last two seasons at United he scored a combined 15 goals and added another four in 17 games on loan at Villa.
But Rashford's ability has rarely been called into question and he recently earned a recall to the England squad under new coach Thomas Tuchel, putting him in contention for next year's World Cup.
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Marcus Rashford poses during his presentation as a new F.C. Barcelona player in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Marcus Rashford smiles during his presentation as a new F.C. Barcelona player in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Marcus Rashford poses with an F.C. Barcelona jersey during his presentation as a new signing in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Marcus Rashford poses with an F.C. Barcelona jersey during his presentation as a new signing in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
