Which club does Marcus Rashford fit best? It's not Barcelona, Man Utd or PSG

After his side wrapped up the La Liga title against arch-rivals Real Madrid, a game in which the England international opened the scoring with a sensational free kick, Manchester United pariah Marcus Rashford made his preference for his next move clear.

"I'm not a magician," Rashford said. "But if I was, I would stay [at Barcelona]. We will see. I came here to win. I want to win as many things as I can. This is one more to add to this.

"This is a wonderful team, they're going to win so much in the future; to be a part of that would be special."

Rashford's talent, truthfully, has never been in doubt - but he found himself a poor fit for certain systems like Ruben Amorim's while at United.

At Barcelona, he has landed in an environment that works for him, but circumstances outside of his control could dictate whether they take up the £26million purchase option in his loan deal.

With that in mind, we dug into Machine Football's database to assess Rashford's best options for his next move.

This is Rashford's preferred move, and it's easy to see why. For starters, his numbers - 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions despite making just 16 league starts - are nothing to be sniffed at.

And while Rashford's pressing has been criticised throughout his career, Barcelona's dominance in possession offers mitigation - allowing him to focus on the direct, instinctive attributes that make him highly effective when on form.

Naturally, Rashford has also built familiarity with his new teammates. Despite receiving criticism for his performances when filling in for Raphinha on the left during two injuries this season, Rashford has by and large been a good fit for Barca and this is backed up by Machine Football's cohesion data.

The model used here classifies Barcelona's system as an 'Attacking Engine' - focused on applying constant pressure to opponents through high possession and chance creation.

Other examples of this system include PSG and Manchester City, and it marries up well with the kind of system Rashford thrived in at United during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's two full seasons at the wheel.

As we see here with elite cohesion scores - a measure of players' compatibility and effectiveness when connecting - between Rashford and Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, Rashford has thrived when linking up with Barcelona's top-level creators.

Given Rashford's fluctuating confidence over the last few years, a longer-term stay in a team where he feels comfortable makes a lot of sense.

Unfortunately for him, Rashford's wages, Barcelona's financial restrictions and the inherent risk involved in offering a 28-year-old a longer-term contract to help with amortisation mean the Blaugrana could opt for a younger player to rotate in their attack.

PSG play a pretty comparable style to Barcelona and, with the future of Bradley Barcola uncertain, the European champions could be on the lookout for another option capable of playing across the forward line.

Rashford already matches up nicely alongside one of the Parisians' key attackers: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Machine Football has them both down as 'Dynamic 7s': players who can finish moves but who are capable of dragging a team up the pitch with their ball-carrying and counter-attack threat, rather than dictating the play for others.

With flying full-backs and the purring midfield of Vitinha and Joao Neves, PSG's forwards are free to terrorise defences - something which Rashford, at his best, is still capable of.

While he would be another squad option in Paris, as he is in Barcelona, Machine Football actually ranks his finishing higher than Kvaratskhelia, suggesting he could continue to impact games from the bench.

The concern, though, remains around his pressing. PSG employed a man-to-man system against Liverpool and Bayern Munich this season, and it seems unlikely Rashford could be trusted to execute this.

Like Barcelona, Bayern play pedal-to-the-metal football in an 'Attacking Engine' model, and links with Anthony Gordon suggest the Bavarian outfit are looking for a left-sided attacker to compete with Luis Diaz.

Gordon is rated by the Machine Football model at around €87m (£75m), though, which - like Yan Diomande - could price Bayern out of a move.

Rashford presents an intriguing and more cost-effective alternative. Like Diaz, he's inclined to drift in on his right foot and is a strong ball-carrier and finisher, but - at just a year younger - it's questionable if Bayern would be willing to compromise on the pressing attributes that help the Colombian stand out.

Still, Rashford scores highly for hypothetical chemistry with Michael Olise, Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala, and already has a relationship with Harry Kane from England national team duties.

As a 'Dynamic 7' as opposed to Gordon’s 'Incisive 7' profile, Rashford would offer less off the ball and in terms of creativity - but could thrive in terms of end product surrounded by such creative riches, and the much cheaper price tag could tempt Bayern.

While it's obviously never going to happen, Liverpool are actually the strongest fit for Rashford according to the Machine Football model. This summer, the Merseyside club will lose their primary source of goals over the last decade in Mohamed Salah.

Although Rashford and Salah naturally operate from opposite flanks, the gap is not quite as rigid as it first appears - Rashford has featured on the right for Barcelona this season.

Rashford would help to replace Salah's goals from wider areas, and would be expected to improve on the Egyptian's meagre tally of seven in the league this season.

But the two are very different players. Even on the decline, Salah - as an 'Incisive 7' - acts as a creative fulcrum for his side, racking up six league assists this term.

With Liverpool already having lost the creativity of Trent Alexander-Arnold and with Andy Robertson on the way out, big changes are needed.

The plan, should it pay off, is that Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai will take up this mantle, which could allow for a profile like Rashford's to thrive.

Another option if Rashford is most concerned with starting games would be a move to another Premier League side, but pickings are slim.

Arsenal have long craved depth on the left wing, and Rashford could certainly give the Gunners some much-needed end product from those areas, but he would be a poor fit for the creativity the London side need.

Fielding Eberechi Eze in that position has paid dividends recently and it feels unlikely that Arsenal would splash out on high wages for another player who does not directly solve that issue.

Newcastle, too, may be on the lookout if Gordon moves on, but with the Magpies favouring a high-octane pressing style and recently having moved Joelinton to wide duties for added physicality, this also feels like an unlikely destination.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, are crying out for added goal threat, having scored just 50 league goals this season and being reliant on moments of individual quality to win games.

Rashford scored four goals and managed six assists in his half-season at Villa before his loan to Barcelona, but the Villans declined the opportunity to sign him for £40m.

While he can play the final ball from out wide, Villa have struggled to sustainably engineer these passages of play this season, with Machine Football rating their build-up at just 39.27 out of 100 - the fifth-lowest in the league.

Rashford wouldn't solve this by himself and nor would it be the ideal environment for him to thrive.

While some supporters have had enough of Rashford, and the new-look attack is clicking in his absence, the academy graduate is still technically a United player.

And with Amorim gone, Michael Carrick, who looks set to become the next permanent boss, could even look to reintegrate him.

With a sale unlikely to be far off the fee agreed with Barcelona, this could actually represent the best-value outcome for United and Rashford should he return in top form.

Carrick built his attack around Finn Azaz at Middlesbrough - another 'Dynamic 7' when playing out wide - who thrived in Boro's 'Possession Builder' system, driving centrally and exploiting overloads from sustained possession.

Azaz bagged 23 goal contributions in Carrick's final season in the North-East, and Rashford - elite at ball carrying and dribbling - could suit it even better.

The off-the-ball weaknesses exposed by Amorim's transitional football are less of a concern in a system like this.

With better players around him and if both player and club can set their differences aside, a United return could actually see Rashford back to his best.

It’s a big 'if' - but it’s food for thought.