Marcus Rashford's preference was to be a "one-club man" at Manchester United, according to Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

Rashford signed for Barcelona earlier this week, with the Blaugrana taking the England international on loan for the 2025-26 season.

Barca, last season's LaLiga champions, also have the option to buy Rashford.

The 27-year-old found himself out of favour under Ruben Amorim at United, and spent the back half of last season on loan at Aston Villa.

Laporta claims Rashford saw himself as staying at United for his entire career, but circumstances dictated that could not be the case.

"We are very happy because a player of great quality is coming, at a great age to come to Barca with extraordinary motivation," said Laporta, as quoted by Goal.com.

"Personally, I’ve seen how excited he is to come to Barca.

"One of his virtues is that he is sincere. His dream was to play for Manchester United for the rest of his life.

"He arrived at the age of seven and was born there. He wanted to be a 'one-club man'.

"It's nice for a player to say this with all sincerity."

Having made his United debut in February 2016, Rashford has gone on to make 426 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 138 goals and registering 60 assists.

Rashford had his best campaign for United in 2022-23, netting 30 times in all competitions, but he only netted eight further times for the club before leaving for Villa midway through last season.

He will become just the second English player to feature for Barca, after Gary Lineker.