Manchester United outcast Marcus Rashford has got off to a brilliant start at Barcelona with another goal contribution picked up earlier this week

Marcus Rashford is well on his way to achieving a personal target set for his loan spell at Barcelona. The England international made the move to Spain from Manchester United over the summer after being omitted from the plans of Ruben Amorim.

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal unsurprisingly reduced Rashford to cameo appearances off the bench during his first few weeks at the club. However, injury issues have seen him become a regular under Hansi Flick and he has grabbed that opportunity with both hands.

Rashford has grabbed a goal contribution in five of his last six games in all competitions with an assist picked up before his stunning brace in the Champions League against Newcastle United.

On his return to St James’ Park, Rashford headed Barcelona into the lead before scoring a long-range stunner. He has followed that up with assists in his last three matches, reminding United of his quality.

The latest of those arrived earlier this week against Paris Saint-Germain and was a perfect first-time pass into Ferran Torres. While Barcelona searched for a winner, following Senny Mayulu’s equaliser, Rashford was taken off with Flick explaining his decision.

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“I think you could see in the second half that some players were very tired. Marcus, Pedri, [Frenkie] De Jong,” he told Diario AS.

“They gave their all on the pitch. At 1-1, you have to defend better. You have to learn and improve against teams of this quality.”

Despite the possibility of injury striking, Rashford’s continued impressive form has seen him called up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the upcoming October international break.

He scored a goal in the 5-0 World Cup qualifying win against Serbia last month, but that is seemingly not his main target. According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Rashford is aiming to hit between 30 to 40 assists for the season.

From his first nine competitive appearances for the Catalan giants, Rashford already has four assists and with a minimum of roughly 40 games to play, his output will need an increase. Surrounded by the likes of Raphinha, Yamal, Torres and Robert Lewandowski, it is perhaps no surprise he has set such an ambitious target.

Flick will certainly want more goals from him however, especially with Yamal joining Raphinha in being out injured. The 27-year-old is yet to score in La Liga action this season but he will be hoping to change that away to Sevilla on Sunday afternoon.

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