British players to play for Barcelona

Joining Barcelona on loan from Manchester United, Marcus Rashford is set to accompany an exclusive list of British players to don the famous Blaugrana shirt.

Rashford's loan deal, which is for an initial 12 months, includes an option to buy for £30.3m (35m euros).

As the forward prepares for life in Catalonia, we look at the other British players who have made an appearance for Barcelona.

Steve Archibald

Steve Archibald swapped White Hart Lane for the Nou Camp when he joined Barcelona from Tottenham Hotspur in a £1.15m deal in 1984.

The Scottish striker scored 15 league goals in his first season to fire Barcelona to La Liga glory and he helped the club reach the European Cup final in 1986, where they lost to Steaua Bucharest on penalties.

A popular figure amongst Barcelona supporters, Archibald returned to England with a move to Blackburn Rovers on loan in 1987 after he was omitted from the Barcelona squad due to limits on fielding foreign players.

Gary Lineker

One of the reasons Archibald wasn't permitted to start was due to Gary Lineker's arrival in Catalonia from Everton for £2.8m in 1986.

Scooping the Golden Ball at the 1986 World Cup, Lineker's prolific form continued for Barcelona and the striker netted 20 goals in his debut campaign, including a famous hat-trick against arch-rivals Real Madrid.

He lifted the Copa del Rey and Cup Winners' Cup during his stint with the Blaugrana before departing for Tottenham in 1989.

Mark Hughes

Another one of Terry Venables' attacking recruits from the British Isles, Mark Hughes was signed from Manchester United for £2m in 1986 as Barcelona forged a new-look strike partnership in the Welshman and Lineker.

Hughes struggled to adapt to life at Camp Nou and returned only five goals before he was loaned to Bayern Munich in the subsequent season.

The striker rejoined United in 1988 where he won two Premier League titles.

Marcus McGuane

Yes, there's a huge asterisk next to Marcus McGuane.

While he didn't necessarily play a competitive fixture, he did represent Barcelona in the Catalan Super Cup against city rivals Espanyol in March 2018.

That was as good as it got for McGuane, who had a spell on loan at Dutch side Telstar before joining Nottingham Forest in 2020.