Marcus Rashford could be in for a culture shock as he adjusts to Barcelona, having completed his loan move from Manchester United.
The 27-year-old Rashford confirmed a one-year loan to Barcelona this week, describing it as a “dream transfer” while wishing United good luck in the Premier League. After falling out of favour with Ruben Amorim and being frozen out at United, Rashford spent last year on loan at Aston Villa. Now he will play the 2025/26 season at Camp Nou under Hansi Flick’s leadership.
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Barcelona are working to defend their La Liga title, after Flick secured the championship in his first season as coach. According to reports, he has introduced a number of strict rules for the squad to raise the standard in the dressing room.
Flick’s strict rules of the game
According to AS, Flick introduced 10 rules when he took over Barcelona:
- The players must show up 90 minutes before training
- Daily Weight Checks
- Everyone must eat in the club’s canteen – without exception
- Morning warm-up on match days, followed by a meeting at the team hotel before departure
- No night flights after matches – instead accommodation in hotels
- Intense 90-minute workouts (a total of approx. 5 hours daily at the gym)
- Reduced days off between matches for maximum training time
- No fines as a motivational tool – only professional working conditions
New rule after Yamal’s birthday celebration
Now, it is reported that Flick has added an 11th rule ahead of Rashford’s arrival. Sport claims that Flick will take tougher action against players who party too much in their spare time, after Lamine Yamal was criticized for his 18th birthday celebration.
Flick will encourage the players to:
- Show more discretion in social activities
- Focus more on football
- Limit Christmas parties and commercial activities that may disrupt the team
Rashford’s past controversies
Rashford had to apologise to Erik ten Hag in 2023 after celebrating his birthday hours after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City. In 2024, it was reported that he partied in Belfast before an FA Cup match – and did not show up for training the next day. Ten Hag stated that Rashford was ill, but the events have given the striker a somewhat unfair reputation.
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With Flick’s new regime, Rashford will have to adapt to a completely different work ethic at Barcelona.
