Why Barcelona potentially choosing Jan Virgili over Rashford is not as strange as it looks – Analysis
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Marcus Rashford outperformed Jan Virgili in almost every attacking metric last season: non-penalty goals, expected goal contributions, assists, key passes and overall final-third impact.
The graphic paints a very clear picture.
AdvertisementAdvertisementYet Barcelona chose not to trigger Rashford’s €30 million purchase option. Meanwhile, they are preparing to buy Virgili back from Mallorca for a relatively smaller investment.
On the surface, it may look contradictory. However, Barcelona’s decision is not only about who was the better player last season.
It is about age, cost, squad planning, market reality and what kind of gamble the Catalan club can afford to take.
Rashford was the better player; there is no debate
There is no need to overcomplicate the sporting comparison between the two wingers. Rashford, without a doubt, is the superior footballer right now.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHe is 28, experienced, physically mature and has already played under the pressure of Manchester United, England and Barcelona.
During his loan spell, he gave Hansi Flick speed, verticality and goal contributions from the left flank.
On the face of it, Barça should have been all over that €30 million option to make the deal permanent, but the deadline passed without the club activating it.
What this tells us is that the Catalan club clearly did not reject the Englishman because of quality. They rejected the operation.
Transfer fee and salary were an issue with Rashford’s signing. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe fee was one part. His wages were another. The arrival of Anthony Gordon changed the attacking map too.
Once Barça had already committed significant money to another Premier League winger, paying €30 million more for Rashford became harder to justify.
The 28-year-old attackermay have been the better performer, but he was also the more expensive commitment.
And this is where Virgili enters the picture.
Virgili is not a Rashford replacement, but a market play
Jan Virgili should not be framed as Barcelona choosing a better player over Rashford. That would be unfair and inaccurate.
He represents a different kind of decision. He is younger, cheaper, more developmental and easier to control financially.
AdvertisementAdvertisementBarcelona sold him to Mallorca in 2025 while retaining 40% of a future sale and a right of first refusal.
The club are now considering bringing him back after Mallorca’s relegation reduced his release clause, with the effective cost potentially around €7.2 million because of the rights the club already hold.
Virgili will cost Barcelona only €7.2 million. (Photo by Rafa Babot/Getty Images)
That changes the logic completely. For €30 million, Rashford has to be an important first-team player.
For around €7 million, Virgili can be an asset: a young winger to develop, loan out, protect or eventually integrate if his progression continues.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThis is not a question of replacing Rashford. It is about replacing his squad slot with a low-risk, high-upside investment.
The key is not to confuse value with readiness
Virgili’s return would make sense as a sporting-economic operation. However, expecting him to replicate Rashford’s impact would not be practical.
If Flick needs a ready-made attacker for Champions League nights, that is not Virgili. However, Barça have already signed Gordon to address the left-wing issue.
The hope is that, between Gordon and Virgili, Barça have covered the impact that Rashford brought to the table.
There is also a very realistic possibility that the club signed Virgili back only to move him on, hopefully for a bigger transfer fee following his La Liga breakthrough.
Barça are no strangers to doing this, having done it with Marc Cucurella all those years ago and with Emerson Royal in the past.
If Barcelona choose Virgili, it is not because he is better than Rashford. They may be choosing him because he is easier to build around and gives them more flexibility to build a rounded squad.
It remains to be seen whether the club indeed use the buy-back clause to sign Virgili and then, if he is given a chance in the first team during pre-season.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
