Rashford 'statistically the best British player' in debut La Liga season

Marcus Rashford is currently recording better average goal-contribution numbers than Barcelona team-mates Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, according to Spanish football expert and BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague.

Rashford, who is on loan from Manchester United, scored a free-kick as Barcelona beat rivals Real Madrid to seal their 29th La Liga title at the weekend - however, his loan club are reportedly hesitant to splash £30m on a permanent deal.

"His average goal contribution, which include goals, assists and penalties, is every 86 minutes - compared to Lamine Yamal's 103 minutes and Raphinha's 96 minutes," Balague explained on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"When you're using that metric, he is actually statistically the best British player in their first season [in La Liga] - ahead of Gareth Bale and Jude Bellingham.

"Among foreign strikers that have played for Barcelona this century, only Luis Suarez did better in his first season there.

"When you put it like this, you would assume Barcelona want to keep him. But, even though their perception has changed a bit in the past two or three weeks, the ideas of paying £30m for him is a lot for Barcelona.

"It will cost £30m to keep him, plus £30m more for his package of wages and so on, so it will cost around £60m for a player who is 28 years old with no real return.

"This is what is installing the doubt really, but I don't think it should be a debate."

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