The justification for this shift in stance—less than six weeks ago, Deco explicitly named Rashford as a player Barcelona “liked”—is the preference for Liverpool forward Luis Díaz. The Colombia international is deemed to be more versatile, more experienced and more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team than Rashford.

Barcelona’s summer plans took an unexpected hit when Nico Williams changed his mind at the last minute. After it looked like he was coming to Camp Nou, he chose to stay at Athletic Club instead,