Marcus Rashford stats at Barcelona: How 2025/26 form hints at repeat of career-best season

As the 2025/26 season nears the end of the first quarter of competitive play, Marcus Rashford has found new life at Barcelona.

Having come through the Manchester United youth academy and establishing himself as an England international while blossoming at Old Trafford, his Red Devils career began to stagnate.

After a difficult 2023/24 campaign and an equally rough first half to the following year, Rashford was sent out on loan to Aston Villa, where he showed flashes of his old self.

Now, having secured a season-long loan to Barcelona, the 27-year-old appears to have truly recaptured his old form. Even while theoretically not being a first-choice player, Rashford has found himself with regular minutes thanks to a combination of his own strong play and various injuries in the Barcelona squad.

With El Clasico coming up this weekend, The Sporting News details how well Rashford has played this season so far with Barcelona, and what it is about Hansi Flick’s setup that has allowed the England international to thrive.

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Marcus Rashford Barcelona stats for 2025/26 season

Entering El Clasico on October 26, Marcus Rashford has logged 11 goal contributions across 12 appearances for Barcelona.

It understandably took Rashford a bit of time to get going with his new club, failing to register a goal contribution in his first three league appearances, all off the bench. Since September 14, he has claimed all 11 of his goal contributions across a span of just nine games, only failing to score or assist in one of those matches.

Rashford has been at his best in Europe, scoring braces against both Newcastle and Olympiacos in the Champions League.

Marcus Rashford stats, goals in 2025/26 season

Data updated as of October 23, 2025.

What is Marcus Rashford’s best season?

Thus far, Marcus Rashford’s best season from a statistical perspective was the 2022/23 campaign, when he claimed 30 goals and 12 assists for Manchester United, totalling 34 goal contributions across all competitions.

Right behind that is his most creative season, coming in 2020/21 when he scored 21 goals across all competitions, while delivering a career-high 18 assists, including 13 of the latter in the Premier League. That season, United made a run to the Europa League final, having dropped down from the Champions League.

Third-best is the pandemic-affected 2019/20 campaign, when he struck for 22 goals and 12 assists, including a career-high 17 Premier League goals, a number he went on to equal in 2022/23. A back injury caused him to miss a chunk of the second half of the season, meaning it would have likely been his most successful to date had he managed to stay healthy.

Marcus Rashford’s best career seasons

How Rashford’s Barcelona form hints at repeat of career best

While it took time for Marcus Rashford to acclimatise at Barcelona, he has taken off and seemingly returned to his best in Catalonia.

According to an ESPN FC report, Rashford was “lost” tactically in the early days of his time at Barcelona, but he has learned quickly to grasp Hansi Flick’s high-flying pressing system.

Rashford is a perfect understudy to Raphinha in the left wing position, as the two are statistically very similar players. In fact, according to statistical website FBRef, Raphinha is the fourth-best statistical comparison to Rashford, only behind Son Heung-min, Vinicius Jr, and Leandro Trossard when looking at his numbers over the past calendar year.

In Flick’s imbalanced system, Rashford does not need to be a high-volume player. Instead, he is tasked with playing a foil opposite Lamine Yamal. Whereas the young La Masia product carries a massive progressional load as the main conduit of moving the ball into the attacking third, Rashford or Raphinha are asked to play far more direct, running at defenders when on the ball or arriving at the far post when possession flows through the opposite wing.

This is reflected in his statistical profile — when compared to other attacking midfielders and wingers, Rashford has an extremely low number of carries, defensive and middle third touches, or progressive passes. Instead, the areas Rashford pops are concentrated almost entirely in take-ons and carries into the penalty area, operating almost entirely in the final third.

Comparing this to his past, we find a more min-max’d, part-time version of Rashford’s best career season, the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

There is still going to be competition for playing time down the road, and the England star is unlikely to log the kind of minutes he did back when he was an everyday player for Manchester United. Yet with early-season injuries to left-winger Raphinha, striker Robert Lewandowski, and No. 10 Dani Olmo, Rashford’s versatility has allowed Flick to deploy him with reasonable regularity.

Will Rashford stay at Barcelona beyond 2025/26?

Marcus Rashford is currently contracted to Barcelona on a season-long loan, which will see him return to Manchester United at the end of the campaign.

However, the England international has expressed a desire to stay at Barcelona beyond this year.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Rashford said to ESPN when asked if he wishes to stay beyond 2025/26. “I’m enjoying this football club and I think for anybody who loves football, Barcelona is one of the key clubs in the history of the game. For a player is an honour.”

Realistically, it will be difficult to see Rashford remain at Barcelona on a permanent basis.

He is contracted with Manchester United through the summer of 2028, meaning the Premier League club holds most of the leverage in any transfer negotiations the two sides would engage in.

Barcelona reportedly have access to a €30 million buy option as part of Rashford’s season-long loan deal, but given the La Liga club’s financial constraints, it’s hard to see them having the means to trigger such a clause for a player who turns 28 at the end of this month and is not first choice when everyone is healthy.

It will take some heavy lifting to see Rashford stay at Barcelona long-term, but United could be motivated to acquiesce. The Red Devils are themselves under some financial strain, especially after a spending spree over the summer. Considering his wages, it would be helpful for them to work out a deal.