Borussia Dortmund are ‘pushing’ to sign out-of-favour Man United forward

Borussia Dortmund have stepped up their efforts to sign Manchester United’s out-of-favour forward Marcus Rashford.

Journalist Florian Plettenberg has claimed that Dortmund’s manager Nuri Sahin and Sporting director Sebastian Kehl are ‘pushing’ to sign Rashford.

The club decided to enter the race to sign the 27-year-old after losing to defending champions Bayer Leverkusen at the Signal Iduna Park last week.

They also lost to Holstein Kiel on Tuesday and must bolster their squad this month to avoid finishing outside the Champions League places.

Dortmund are five points adrift of fourth-placed RB Leipzig, with 17 games to be played.

The sale of Netherlands international Donyell Malen to Aston Villa has also strengthened their case to sign another forward this month.

They have a good relationship with Man United, which may help in signing Rashford as there is stiff competition for his signature.

AC Milan and Barcelona are ‘very interested’ in signing the English forward but await his ‘decision’ and how much salary they would cover before stepping up their interest.

Barcelona may miss out on signing the United academy graduate as centre-back Ronal Araujo has decided to stay at the club amid exit links.

AC Milan have lost Randal Kolo Muani to rivals Juventus. The club’s interest in Rashford is unlikely to wane unless the terms of the deal are unfavourable.

The English forward may have played his last game for United. He has not featured since the Europa League clash with Viktoria Plzen. He has made the matchday squad once since then.

The versatile forward was absent as United staged a comeback to beat Southampton 3-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday evening.

He has fallen out with manager Ruben Amorim, and it does not appear that their relationship can be fixed.

United will likely find a way to loan him out this month before deciding on his future next summer.