Marcus Rashford is looking to revive the history of the English players in Barcelona, after he is only the second player to wear the team’s shirt since 1924, after his famous fellow Gary Linker.
Barcelona announced on Wednesday its contract with Rashford on loan for a season coming from Manchester United.
A report published by the newspaper “Mundo Deportivo monitored a number of English players who defended the colors of Barcelona in its early years, between 1899 and 1920, during friendly matches that were held for organizational purposes, and although they are not officially counted, these names are still present in the club’s history.
Among the most prominent of them are Arnst Wimi, who played between 1899 and 1901, striker Gordon Frank Basto, James Albert Ikees, who scored six goals in 15 games in 1901, and defender Charles Herford who participated in one meeting in 1903.
Charles Wallace also played 99 games between 1908 and 1911 and scored 80 goals, and his brother Persie Wallace, who scored 66 goals in 70 games.
As for Gary Linker, the owner of the largest attendance, he moved to Barcelona in 1986 from Everton, upon the recommendation of English coach Terry Venbels, and participated in 139 official matches during which he scored 52 goals.
In the modern era, Marcus McCoen wore the shirt of the reserve team between 2018 and 2020, the only one to play for the first team since Lenker, but he participated in a single friendly match with the Catalan Super Cup.
Rashford will be the first English since Lenker to participate with the Spanish team officially.
