How Barcelona are rebuilding Marcus Rashford: The 'disappearing act' that's taken him to a new level, what he's learned from Lamine Yamal and why the locals think he can 'destroy' his opponents

Marcus Rashford returns to England on Thursday night in a better place than he’s been for a very long time.

Manager Hansi Flick has made Rashford his personal project; he's on a mission to restore the England forward to former glory and make a permanent £26million deal for him at the end of the season look like the steal of next summer. The next step of his rebuild comes in the raucous cauldron of Newcastle's St James' Park in the sides' Champions League opener.

The German manager backed his signing more than anyone at the club - he’s already given him two starts and on Sunday, in the 6-0 win over Valencia, he’s convinced he saw the first fruits of his labour.

It wasn’t just Rashford’s first assist for Barcelona, the long cross from the left that Raphinha turned in at the back post to make it 2-0. It was also the early driving run from deep to the byline past three defenders that set the tone for the thumping win.

And it was also the moment when he ‘disappeared’ - as Flick and his coaching staff call it - with a clever movement that led to the opening goal.

It won’t feature in any of his stats but Flick was delighted with the way Rashford dropped deep, taking Valencia defender Cesar Tarrega with him and leaving a gaping hole in the penalty area which Fermin Lopez ran into to score.

It was proof that the England forward ‘gets it’. With the help of some one-to-one asides, in English, with the coach at the training ground, he is learning the Barcelona way, taking on board Flick’s philosophy.

Much is made of English players learning the language when they go abroad and Rashford is still having intensive Spanish lessons several times a week. 

But it’s of secondary importance in a squad which uses English as its shared language. Where he most needs fluency is in understanding the demands of his coach, who has had his eyes on the forward since the middle of last season.

Rashford missed out on working with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and found himself playing under eight different coaches in his nine years at the club. The last of those provided the worst experience of the lot, with Ruben Amorim leaving him out of the squad. 

At Barcelona there is a sense that Flick can mentor the England striker in a way Ferguson might have, had they worked together.

‘It’s a win-win if it works,’ says Marcos Lopez of Barcelona’s El Periodico. ‘Flick gets a fifth forward of real quality, last season he survived with just four (Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Raphinha). And Barcelona could end up with a top player for a ridiculously low price.'

There’s a long way to go before Barcelona exercise the buy option and as Rashford has repeated several times in Spain, he’s just on loan and is taking it day by day. He has, after all, been a Manchester United player since he was eight.

But Sunday’s big win was Barcelona’s first without the injured Yamal in the starting line-up. They lost twice and drew once without him last season - and will be without him again on Tyneside - and victory over Valencia was greeted as an indication that this could be the start of something permanent.

Rashford has taken up residence in the Bellamar neighbourhood of Castelldefels, the seaside town just down the coast from Barcelona famous for its 5km-long strip of beach. It is a beautiful area, set back slightly into the hills overlooking the Mediterranean.

He and his girlfriend Lucia Loi - plus Cane Corso dog 'Saint' - have settled into the quiet residential area once home to Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Cesc Fabregas and now the place where many of the squad live, including Wojciech Szczesny and Lewandowski.

With three games a week there’s been no time to explore much of the region beyond the C-32 road that takes him to the club’s Joan Gamper training ground in 20 minutes. It’s there that he’s found a happiness that was missing at United.

Flick is a disciplinarian. There was no Raphinha in the first half on Sunday because the German coach had left him on the bench for turning up late to training. He did the same last season to defender Jules Kounde.

But Flick is hugely respected, firmly entrenched in his position as coach until 2027. His ‘egos destroy dressing rooms’ mantra is creating a meritocracy that Rashford wants to thrive in.

Flick’s view of the 27-year-old, shared by his trusted No 2 Marcus Sorg, is that the Englishman has come in not with the airs of a superstar but with a point to prove, a career to get back on track and a willingness to be a soldier for the cause.

When asked by Barcelona-based publication Sport last month if he saw himself making history at Camp Nou, Rashford replied: 'It’s such a huge club that most players can play only a small part in its history. It will be great if I can do that.'

But he hasn’t played at the biggest stadium in Europe yet because of rebuilding work. Barcelona were given permission by La Liga to play their first three matches away, and their next two will be relocated to the 6,000-seater Johan Cruyff stadium where the B team usually play.

In the absence of the injured Yamal on Thursday, Rashford will be alongside Raphinha - who scored twice against Newcastle when at Leeds - and possibly Ferran Torres, who scored four goals in two games against them when he was at City, including a hat-trick at St James’ Park.

There are extremes within the squad that faces Eddie Howe’s team. Lewandowski, who is vying with Torres for a starting berth, is 37 years old. Yamal is almost 20 years the Pole’s junior.

Rashford has hit it off with Barca’s boy wonder, who he says is mature beyond his years on the pitch but a normal 18-year-old off it, always laughing and having fun in the dressing room. ‘It reminds me of when I was that age,’ he told El Periodico.

One of the first words Rashford learned at the training ground was chuche, meaning sweet or candy. ‘Soy tu papa, chuche’, (I’m your daddy, sweetie) is Yamal’s verbal calling card after bamboozling a hapless defender on the training ground.

Rashford is in neither Yamal's teenage crew nor Lewandowski and Szczesny’s group of golden oldies but he’s fitted in well with both and so far he’s winning over the Catalan media, who are capable of crowning or killing a new signing within their first few games.

‘I’m liking Rashford, he looks physically in very good shape,' wrote analyst Albert Blaya at the weekend, 'and from the left he is the only one who can receive the ball from a standing start and drive into the area.'

‘There’ll be a lot of games when he will be brought on to kill off the opposition,' says Diario AS reporter Juan Jimenez, 'because when Barca take the lead and the opponent leaves space in behind, his pace will destroy sides on the break. 

'But Flick showed on Sunday that he sees him as a starter as well. That will have given him confidence to know he’s not the official 12th man.'

Flick wants Rashford to take defenders on. Few players lost the ball as much as Yamal in La Liga last season but it was because no one attempted more dribbles. It’s part of what’s expected, but there has to be a mix.

Flick also wants him to be as dangerous crossing with his weaker left foot as he is at coming inside and shooting off his right. It was with a left-footed cross that he teed up Torres to hit the post on Sunday.

He’s being asked to whip in corners right-footed from the left wing, and take up positions on the edge of the box to get shots away from cleared corners that come in from the other side.

He ticked all the boxes on Sunday and Flick was left delighted with the win. ‘This was the old Barca back from last season,’ he said.

One Sport editorial drooled: ‘Rashford’s performance against Valencia won us all over. He was incisive, daring, connected, and more organised than he had been in other matches.’

That sort of form will keep him Thomas Tuchel's good books ahead of next summer's World Cup. 

He was in the most recent England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia ahead of the likes of Jack Grealish and Phil Foden. He started against Andorra at Villa Park, his temporary home in the second half of last season, and scored from the penalty spot off the bench against Serbia at Wembley. 

All that’s missing is the first goal for Barcelona. Gary Lineker, who scored within two minutes of his La Liga debut for them back in 1986, visited Rashford for an interview before the season began but the magic, at least in terms of an early goal, has not rubbed off just yet.

Rashford did come close at the weekend, shooting over from a Torres pass. Of Pedri’s surgically precise passes, he has said: ‘I know if I make well-timed, good runs they will find me.’ 

He’s been told to stay calm by his manager but it will be a big release for both when Rashford breaks his duck.

He scored on his European debut for Manchester United against Midtjylland in the Europa League nine years ago. If he repeats that feat on Thursday night, it will take Flick’s personal project to the next level.