Marcus Rashford Reportedly Offered Massive Raise To Join French Club Last Summer

Manchester United is entering its most important offseason in recent memory with a handful of notable names' contracts set to end, and the biggest one of them all was approached by a French club with a massive offer.

At the height of World Cup fever last December, Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi made it public that they did have talks with star striker Marcus Rashford in the summer and was keen to have him on their side.

No one knew just how much they offered until The Athletic recently put out a tell-all on where Rashford currently stands with the Red Devils in terms of his contract situation while also revealing Paris Saint-Germain's tactic to getting him.

"As Al-Khelaifi suggests, discussions were held between Rashford's representatives and PSG last summer with sources, again speaking anonymously to protect relationships, indicating that an offer of more than £400,000 ($433,780) per week was made by the Parisian club," the report read.

The International Business Times cannot independently confirm the figures raised by The Athletic.

According to that same piece, Manchester United was supposedly being informed of the updates and that "talks were considered above board".

Manchester United did have the option to trigger Rashford's extension so as not to let him depart this coming summer on a free transfer, which they used in December as well.

This effectively shut the doors on a Rashford departure at no cost to Paris Saint-Germain this summer and gives the Red Devils much-needed time to work out a deal with the English striker.

Rashford has been having himself a big year at Old Trafford, leading the club to its first piece of silverware, the English Football League Cup (also known as Carabao Cup), since the 2016-17 season when they won the UEFA Europa League, Carabao Cup and Community Shield.

While they may be relatively out of the running for first place in the English Premier League as Arsenal leads them by 19 points and is behind rivals Manchester City by 11 points, there is hope for more trophies.

The club is currently in the semifinals of the FA Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion on April 22, while they will meet Spanish La Liga team Sevilla FC in the first leg of the quarterfinals on April 14.

The Wythenshawe, England-born forward has recorded a total of 27 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions wearing the red uniform–his best run-up to this point.

With how important he is to manager Erik ten Hag and the fanbase as a whole, it would not be shocking to see Rashford be offered a big-money extension this offseason to fully establish him as their centerpiece.

While there is still the task of renegotiating with world-class keeper David De Gea, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot, Rashford is a piece that they cannot afford to let go of as his quickly developing skillset points towards a bright future for the historically dominant club.