Barcelona's Marcus Rashford interest confirmed as Aston Villa prepare for crunch fixture

Rashford will be allowed to leave Old Trafford and Villa have a £40million option to buy included in the loan deal agreed with United in January.

But their hopes of making the deal permanent are likely to depend on qualifying for the Champions League, while it is believed they do not have first refusal on the England international.

That means a rival club could match the £40m figure and Barcelona sporting director Deco confirmed on Thursday that Rashford and Liverpool forward Luis Diaz are players on their radar heading into the transfer window.

He told Spanish radio: "We like Luis [Diaz], we like [Marcus] Rashford, and we like other players.

"When we go to the market, there are names that we know and that could improve the team."

Rashford, frozen out at United under Ruben Amorim, scored four goals in 17 appearances after joining Villa but has missed the last four matches with a hamstring injury.

The 27-year-old, who attended Villa’s end of season awards at the same time United were playing Tottenham in Wednesday’s Europa League final, is unable to face his parent club on Sunday.

A win for Villa at Old Trafford could see them qualify for the Champions League for the second season running but even then, Rashford’s current £325,000-a-week wages would complicate a permanent move.

Villa have been paying between 75 to 90 per cent of his salary as part of the loan deal.