By Bruna Reis

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Hansi Flick has spoken about his eagerness to land Marcus Rashford when he learned about the opportunity to sign the winger from Manchester United . The England international joined Barcelona on loan in July after it became apparent he was not in Ruben Amorim’s plans for this season. Rashford was initially left out of Amorim’s matchday squad for the Manchester City clash last season and subsequently fell out of favour under the Portuguese head coach. He spent the second half of the season on loan at Aston Villa, where he showed encouraging signs before picking up an injury. Following his move to Barcelona , the 27-year-old went three games without a goal or assist before registering an assist in their 6-0 thrashing of Valencia. He then made an even bigger impact on the elite stage by opening his account in style, scoring a brace against Newcastle United in the Champions League . His return to home soil couldn’t have gone better, as Rashford claimed the Man of the Match award. “I’m not surprised, I’m not surprised,” the Barcelona manager Flick said after the game. “I said yesterday that I think he’s a fantastic player, with great talent so his skills are unbelievable. His finishing is unbelievable, and of course at half time I said to him, score two goals – not it wasn’t like that. “But I think also in the first half he tried to create chances, but the finishing at the end, was not right. In the second half it was different, for a striker it’s always good to score goals and to finish them. I’m really happy that he was in the box when the cross came in, and yeah, for us, important player.” Questioned on whether he was surprised to land the 27-year-old on a season-long loan deal, the German said: “When we had this chance, we said, ‘okay, we have to do it’. “I spoke with him before everything, going in the right way. I said, ‘I want you, I want you in my team’, and 100 per cent, I’m happy because he’s an outstanding player.” Rashford has already made it clear that he wishes to remain at the Nou Camp for the foreseeable future. “I want to stay as long as possible at Barcelona. I have to focus on doing my job, helping the team in any way I can,” he told TNT Sports . “I can feel the confidence that Flick has given me. I knew he was great before I signed, but working with him is a real pleasure.” Barcelona have the option to make Rashford’s move permanent next summer for a fee of €30m (£26m). Some reports had suggested that the Catalans would be forced to pay a €5m (£4.3m) penalty fee should they choose not to sign him permanently but The Athletic have confirmed that is not the case. — Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories. And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts , and you can also watch along on YouTube .