How will Rashford fit in at Barca? & Is "boring" Scheffler the new Tiger Woods?

0:02This is a Global Player original podcast. Marcus Rashford is off to Barcelona on a 12-month loan. He's escaped the bomb squad. After being cast out at Manchester United in England, could this start the road to redemption for one of England's most promising talents just in time for the World Cup? Barcelona have an option to buy, so this could be farewell to Rashford's boyhood club. But after his recent performances, does Rashford deserve to join the Spanish giants? and why do Barcelona want him? And as Scotty Scheffler blitzed his rivals at the Open to win his fourth major in three years, Xander Schoffler and other players compared him to the GOAT.

0:39He's incredible. I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon. Here's Scotty sort of taking that throne of dominance. You can't even say he's on a run. He's just been killing it for over two years now. He's a tough man to beat and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us. Are they getting carried away or are there similarities with Tiger? Last week Sheffler said he struggles with working on his life for fleeting highs. So how much will he actually enjoy his dominant victory? He says there's more to life than golf and what better way to show that than baby Bennett, his son, stealing the show.

1:18The real star of the show. Man down. Must have just been starting to walk. They're definitely pictures for the family album, aren't they? Welcome to the Sports Agents.

1:46Hello, just me today. In a moment, we're going to chat to Spanish football journalist Guillaume Balaguet about Marcus Rashford joining Barcelona. Last week, of course, on the podcast, we had a big chat about Manchester United's bomb squad and the players in limbo there. And now it seems one of them has found the keys to the door. Has Rashford found a way out? Catch up with that episode and all our past shows on YouTube, Global Player, or wherever you get your podcasts. And that includes the interview with Lioness Lauren Hemp and Niamh Charles. Of course, they were full of praise for young talent, Michelle Adjerman, who scored such a crucial goal against Sweden.

2:18There's so much talent coming through the youth system. and I think you've seen that recently. Michelle's come on massively. As soon as she stepped foot on the pitch, she scored a goal and I think we've got so many young players who can change games. It's so nice to see that when we create an environment where she feels comfortable to do that and what an asset she is to the team and it's so exciting that we know we've got that in our arsenal and she's getting better and better and she's an absolute beast. England play their Euro semi-final just a few hours after we record this But we're going to be covering the fallout of that, hopefully positive fallout, on Thursday.

2:55In the meantime, if you're enjoying The Sports Agents, please make sure to follow and subscribe to the pod and leave us a rating and review. Get in touch on our socials at thesportsagentsatglobal.com. So next up, who better to give the inside track on Marcus Rashford's loan move to Barcelona than Spanish football reporter Guillaume Balaguer, who's writing a book currently about Aston Villa, where Rashford was just on loan. the sports agents Guillaume Balaguet here to talk about the proposed move of Marcus Rashford to Barcelona at least on a one-year loan deal to start off with did this surprise you Guillaume?

3:27well first if it doesn't happen it'll be a bit embarrassing because yesterday he went to the training ground and saw Flick and Deco this morning he was ready to train but they hadn't signed the documentation yet but he's there, desperate this will be a second session, training session We expect that either trains there or gets presented on Wednesday afternoon with all the usual photographs. And to be honest, it's not a huge surprise because his entourage himself, even from Aston Villa, you know, I've been close to Aston Villa all year doing a book. They all knew that he wanted to go to Barcelona.

4:06He was, you have to say, desperate to go to Barcelona. He's a Barcelona fan. Why? Why Barcelona in particular? Because, you know, having covered them quite a lot in the Champions League, they don't appear to be short in attacking talent. And obviously someone who seemed to be languishing and not being able to get into the matchday squad for Manchester United doesn't seem the natural route, does it, out of there? I think the Barcelona story is very simple. The generation of Rashford, Trent, Bellingham were brought up on Spanish football, on television. And they all fell in love with Ronaldinho, with Messi, with Guardiola's Barcelona.

4:45And they may not admit it now, Trent and Jude, but I think if it wasn't Real Madrid, Barcelona would have gone, would have done for them as well. they are all in love with the Spanish football. And it was an opportunity for Marcus Rashford almost to choose where he wanted to go to next. It was clear that Aston Villa couldn't pay the£40 million of his clause to keep him. Even the wages were too much for them as they have to reduce wages themselves. But the reason why he went to Aston Villa is because Unai Emery, having contacts, realised that he was not going to go to Barcelona six months ago, even though he tried.

5:23So they went like, shall we just give him a call? And that's exactly what happened. Unai Emery spoke to Marcus Rashford. And it's interesting that they found a young man who was closed up, who was defensive, who had been hurt, who had fallen out of love with football. And in that first conversation, Unai Emery said to him, you know what, I'm going to make you the best player in the world again. I'm going to make you international. but ask other England teammates of yours find out how hard we were here and what we are about and then if you think it's a good idea boom, let's do it two days later it was all done he thought it was a good place to actually bring what he had inside the essence of Marcus Rashford he's a juvenile, he's a youth player that hasn't been treated as he would like to be treated and this is not a diva it's just somebody that you want to be a footballer he doesn't want to be a character he doesn't want to be a story He doesn't want to be a politician.

6:20He wants to be a footballer. And Aston Villa said, OK, we'll give you the chance to just be a footballer. No press conferences, no interviews. You won't be a commercial asset. And he loved it. And what he got now is a Marcus Rashford that has opened up, that understands that there is a lot of work to be put in to get to the level that he was in. But he was getting there before his injury. So, yes, the guy that couldn't make it into Manchester United is now, again, a sharp player that will fight for his place, as you say, with Rafinha especially, but also with Lewandowski. When they're not available, he'll try.

6:54Well, Lewandowski can't go on forever, can he? Even though he might think he can. It's extraordinary when the three of those players, including Lamin-Yumal, are on the pitch together. You have kind of the beginning, the middle and the end of kind of football careers there, don't you? Yes. It's interesting that Barcelona are putting the spin out that he's been brought in as a winger, as a left winger. He's much more than that. And in fact, he's so fast, I think defenders in Spain are going to struggle with that. So he will be a little bit of everything. But at the moment, in the same way that he did when he arrived to Aston Villa, where he wasn't starting from the start, he will just see what's going on.

7:32Of course, as you say, with Lamine, Lewandowski and Rafinha, those will be the starters. But also as number nine, you've got Ferran Torres, you've got Dani Olmo even. So he'll find his moment. And it's quite clear that the conditions for Barcelona to sign him are permanently, and not that much. It's 30 million euros, which means that he'll have to do half well very soon and help the side. For Barcelona to be convinced, another thing, is if Barcelona, number one, they can register him for next season or for this season. And number two, if they then find 30 million euros to pay for his permanent transfer.

8:10Which doesn't seem a lot of money, as you say. However, Barcelona have got£2.6 billion worth of debt, according to the Telegraph. Yeah, it's not just the debt. It's just the fact that, told in very short, you can only invest the money that La Liga allows you to invest in players. And right now, it's not every pound that comes in can go out to buy players. It's not like that. They haven't reached that plateau for three years and a half, I think it is. When a pound comes in or a euro comes in, some of that has to go for debt, and then the rest can be used for players. So it's not that easy to actually improve or increase the quality of the squad.

8:50And right now, there's three players that they've got that have not been registered. So if the league starts tomorrow, they could not play. That's Chesney, who's renewed his contract, the new goalkeeper that they got from Espanyol, John Garcia, and Rashford. And remember, Dani Olmo managed to be registered. One decision had started already because Christensen got injured. So Bartholomew have to sell players, get rid of players, big wages to be able to bring them into the squad. So this is the slight caveat here in you expecting him to be signed, is this financial situation. Yeah, what's not clear is that what is done for Bartholomew to actually register him.

9:32We know for sure that he's reduced his wages between 15 % and 25%, which is still relatively high wages,€40 million gross. we know that Barcelona have to pay about five million pounds to Manchester United if they don't keep him permanently but I just wonder if you know because players don't move from one place to the other losing money so I just wonder if Barcelona will have to pay Rashford something if they don't manage to register and is it fair to say he wouldn't have been their first choice no it wasn't first choice um was a clear choice Nico Williams of Athletic Club when he became available was a choice.

10:07And Rashford was there just saying, hello, I'm here if you need me. And quite clearly they couldn't do that six months ago. But now without the money for Luis Diaz and without the money anyway we think from Nico Williams, even though the whole thing collapsed, Marcus Rashford is a good addition. But you walk in when the door is a little bit open, if you are desperate to be in the place and right now Marcus Rashford will see his face tomorrow. He'll be a happy, happy man knowing that he's going to become a Barcelona player. I know you've been around Unai Emery, obviously writing a book at the moment.

10:40And so you've spent time around the club a lot last season and you were there when he arrived. Did you get a chance to chat to him? I did, yeah. Because I wanted to say this was my excuse. You know, I'm the chairman of a football club, Eagles are United, and we've got a mural of two people in the stadium, in the Verdam Stadium, Emma Hayes and Marcus Rashford. And I wanted to tell him we did that in COVID. I think he knew, but I said, you have to come and visit us and that's going to be harder. But in any case, That was the beginning of a conversation to try to see, to gouge how he was. And he was very, very excited about the possibility of playing for Unai Emery alongside the likes of Marco Asensio, who had arrived as well.

11:19And the connection was brilliant. Two shy guys who understood each other playing football. The first four goals of Marco Asensio, four assists from Marcus Rashford. And I kept seeing him. And every time I crossed paths with him, it's like, because it's only an hour forty-five from me if you wanted to go. You're desperate to get him there. You might have even more trouble doing that if he gets a Barcelona postcode very soon. And on that, the culture of the club, you just said before that one of the attractions of going to Villa was he was kind of promised you can just get on with football. You can't just get on with football if you're a Barcelona player, can you?

11:50There is a lot of noise and there's a lot of politics and there's a lot of razzmatazz that goes along with being a member of that football club. That's very true. I hope he doesn't speak Spanish because that will isolate him a little bit from all the noise that's there. but all the noise is really directed towards La Minha Mala at the moment obviously Lewandowski is a big personality Pedri is considered one of the best midfielders around, a lot of talk on him in a way he doesn't come to Spain as the Marcus Rashford that gets published in English media it's a completely different guy, it's just a player that has to break through the first team who, you know people remember him being very good at certain moments but can he get to that level that's the talk at the moment, there's no more about his background, about all the stuff that may have affected him on the way to the top.

12:38So in a way, and I'm sure he hasn't had this kind of conversation that Villa did in terms of protecting him, in a way he will be protected because he won't be the main star of that changeable. And I guess that also appeals to him to just be able to put his head down and get on with it. Lifestyle-wise, there was a lot of talk, wasn't there, when he left Manchester United to go to Villa on loan that it would be good to get him away from Manchester. This was the inference that he needed some space and away from maybe people that had, you know, kind of got into his head and a lifestyle maybe. He's going to be in a whole new city.

13:11I'm sure there'll be some of his entourage who come along with him. How do you think he'll find living in Barcelona? It's an interesting one because the arrival of Marcus Rashford held the book because it became one of the stories. So I spoke to everyone and everyone comes back with the same thing. shy guy very polite committed you know asked questions you couldn't ask anything more from somebody like that they expected something else perhaps and deep down even though he hasn't opened up to the coaches anyway on what happened at Manchester United you're absolutely right he needed to get away from all of it and if you see the likes of I don't know Garnacho and other players Bruno Fernandes and others in regards of him leaving it's like yeah just go out there and be happy because you're a good guy who was not enjoying himself, who perhaps wasn't even enjoying his profession or even maybe his life.

14:03I think we're seeing a different player now and he's going to go to a club that he dreamt of going as a kid. So already he knows he's got an opportunity, a massive opportunity to convince them. I think it's good. The Barcelona have not got in permanently. He's got a point or two to prove. And secondly, in a place that's going to be mostly attacking, But now he's learned at Villa that as a top player, you have to work a lot without the ball, which is absolutely necessary for Barcelona. I think he's got all the ingredients to succeed. And the way Barcelona are set up and play, his talents would be welcome, wouldn't they?

14:38You know, he would fit into a system there. You can see him playing within that group of players. And we saw last season, perhaps they could sharpen up their defence a little bit. Their attacking play was prolific, but there's work to be done at the back. They came close in the Champions League, obviously, at that brilliant night in Milan. He's with a team that are going places. Yeah, the wave is still going up. Any player will appreciate that, of course. And he's just got to get carried himself to that top. We don't know if he's going to be able to do it. He doesn't know. The coaches don't know.

15:06He's going to put everything in that he requires to include. I insist on this idea. I think Villa found a player that had been living on his talent with the ball more than without it. Now, that's not possible to do in any club, really, but especially at Barcelona, where what happens in the first five seconds after losing the ball is absolutely crucial. So he knows that. He watches Barcelona. He's an intelligent player. That's another thing that Unai Emery found in the three conversations, deep conversations that he had with him. He's an intelligent guy. So he'll come in. He knows what he'll have to do.

15:40But yeah, it won't be easy because the standards are, as you said, very, very high. Yeah. Well, I'm sure most football fans in this country will wish him all the best. And he's joining such an iconic club that more eyes from the Premier League then diverting their gaze over to La Liga. And obviously with Trent at Real Madrid as well and Jude, there's plenty to keep fans of English football interested. With the World Cup looming next year, it could be a very smart move. Yeah, you know what? And I guess Rashford could help. Nobody has bought the rights of La Liga in the UK. so we don't know where we're going to broadcast La Liga yet.

16:16But with Jude, with Trent, with Rashford, come on, get your act together. It's been negotiated for about a month and a half. It's like the season is about to start. So yeah, we just don't know yet. I'm sure somebody will. And a final note on that. Again, just remind us, Thursday, you expect potentially this week? Wednesday, Wednesday afternoon, 6 to 8. Barcelona, they tell you first, listen, he hasn't even signed the documents. We don't know if he's going to stay. And then they say, it'll be between 6 and 8pm tomorrow. So we'll be there. As he's not going to go to the mural, I'll take a picture of it and see if he can sign it at least.

16:53And we'll put it in the clubhouse. OK, yeah, take the mountain to Mohamed. Thank you so much, Guillaume. Great to chat. Cheers, Gabi. At the weekend, Scotty Scheffler stood head and shoulders above the rest to win the Open. But is it too soon to start the Tiger Woods comparisons? We're going to speak to the golfer Andrew The Beef Johnston and the BBC's golf correspondent Ian Carter, fresh from Portrush. The Sports Agents.

17:21The Sports Agents. With Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman. The champion golfer, Scotty Scheffler. Well, you felt in his career and you certainly felt today it was only a matter of time before he claimed the greatest prize in golf. Well, to talk all things Scheffler, I'm delighted that Andrew Johnston, better known to many of you as Beef, and Ian Carter, the BBC's golf correspondent, join us now. Andrew, do I call you Beefy? Do I call you Andrew? Do I mention Beef again? I always say whatever you like. Now that has backfired in the past as well when I said whatever you like as well. Honestly, it's your choice.

18:04I love both. Let's talk a little bit about the main man, Scotty Scheffler, who came into the tournament having delivered one of the most candid, honest press conferences. I think any sportsman has ever delivered pre-tournament in terms of the happiness that he gets out of the sport that he put so much into and then went and blew the field away. and I was just saying to our producer, that left me feeling, Ian, slightly conflicted about him through the tournament. I almost kind of was not bothered how he did because I didn't feel it was going to make his life any better or him any happier. And I kind of was willing him to let others stay closer to him through the tournament to make him more interesting for all of us.

18:44Yeah, I think there was undoubtedly a feeling, certainly in the galleries, is that you wanted it to be a bit closer. And when he did get into the odd spot of bother, I walked the last 36 holes with him. And every time he got into a spot of bother, there was a frisson that went through the crowd thinking, hey, we might have a championship here. And of course, he shut the door magnificently. And I think if you appreciate great golf, then there was so much to appreciate in the way that he played. But I get what you mean about that press conference in which he basically said quite often, I just wonder what's the point?

19:23Well, what is the point of golf? I'll only celebrate it for two minutes. But the thing that really struck me was when he won, the ball went into the hole. He turned, he shook hands with Hao Tong Li. He hugged his caddy, Ted Scott, as they often do. And it was all very understated. And then he saw his wife, Meredith, and his son, Bennett. And then the cap went flying into the air. The arms went out wide and the emotion, like a champagne cork coming out of a bottle, just tumbled out of him. And that tallied with what he said. I do this for my family. That's what is most important for me. And that moment was magic.

20:04It was absolutely magic. And that kind of justified it all, certainly to me as an observer. We're going to talk about, you know, the dominance that he has and could continue to have and being compared to the great Tiger Woods. But Andrew, did it resonate with you, what he said pre-tournament? Yeah, I've worked with psychologists over the years and when I picked up and I heard it, I listened to it a few times to try and really understand what he was saying. And I thought, oh, wow. I was like, this guy's in a space mentally that is so powerful. It's almost sort of monk level powerful where he cares about golf.

20:44He cares about the tournaments. He wouldn't be playing and competing if he doesn't care about them. I think we're sportsmen. It becomes sometimes the most important thing in your life. You play tournaments, you've got to win. Tiger was different. Tiger was all about winning. Tiger, Michael Jordan, people like that. I think he's in a space where he's able to separate that all about winning and sort of disconnect that emotionally. and see the bigger picture while still being able to compete at that level. I think it's such a skill in itself to be able to be in that position where he does care. There's no way.

21:24I can't believe that he's not bothered. And that sort of achievement won't last two minutes. But I understand what he says because sport and everything moves so quickly. You know, you win a tournament. We talk about it now. A week later, there's another tournament on. And we're talking about that. and it moves so quickly and yeah so he he has found a way that he can mentally manage his success almost and his life and i guess a lot of people strive in don't they in all sorts of sports to find that zen-like state it does mean though perhaps as andrew alluded to there because he said you know he's not comparable to tiger in that respect of wanting to win all the time that it means he doesn't quite transcend the sport for some reason in that in that way i think that's right I mean I think the great quality he has is his perspective and that allied to his brilliant ball striking his brilliance as a golfer and it is in every facet of the game but to also have that that sense of perspective gives him I think the 15th club that separates him but the the byproduct of that is that he doesn't really care about being a superstar he doesn't go courting it he doesn't do all the sponsor days he doesn't I think he might be appearing in Happy Gilmore too but that's about as far as it's going as an extra but I mean this apart from that he he just wants to play his golf practice his golf be with his family and I asked him in Scotland at the Scottish Open the week before I said you know how much does it mean to you to be able to travel the world and take on different forms of golf.

23:04And he said, well, I'm over here because I have to be. And the rest of the time, I don't really want to travel because I want to spend that time with my family. When the downtime's there, I want to spend that time with my family. I don't want to be going to the Australian Open or the Indian Open or wherever it might be. And that separates him from someone like Tiger Woods, who was a global golfer, like Rory McIlroy, who's a global golfer, just a different sense of perspective. So he is not seeking to transcend. And all he can do is just impress us so enormously with the success that he has. So I guess the comparison we have to make then with Tiger, if we have to make any, is to do with his golf and how much he can win and keep on winning and dominate and park all that other stuff.

23:48Because that comparison with Tiger, as you point out there, Andrew, is futile. So in terms of his actual golf and potential domination, are we in Tiger Woods territory? I think it's too early to speak at the moment. Being only a quarter into Tiger's major hall, I think it's too far out to start suggesting that. I haven't seen anyone since Tiger dominate tournaments and look so comfortable in major events since Tiger. So if we're breaking it down, Ian, Justin Rose said that the ability to close out tournaments is what separates Scotty and Tiger. Yeah, absolutely. And that's what I would say, because the key to your question was at the moment.

24:27And at the moment, I think you can compare him with Tiger Woods. I certainly have not seen a more dominant golfer since Tiger Woods in his pomp. And you look at the other events that he wins. You know, when Brooks Koepka was winning his majors in a quick spurt, he was doing nothing on the PGA Tour. And Rory McIlroy went that 11 years without winning a major. but Scheffler is winning the biggest tournaments he plays week in week out whether that's the majors or it's the players championship he's the first player to successfully defend that he wins signature events for fun the only time he's been out of the picture was when he was recovering from that self-inflicted injury at Christmas time since he's fully recovered from that every single tournament he turns up at he is the man to beat and that's what the case was with Tiger Woods now whether he It can match Woods' longevity, and this period has come at a slightly older age than it did for Tiger Woods.

25:25But the span between his first major win and his fourth major win now is exactly the same number of days, 1 ,197. So he is winning at Woods-like rate. And I think the fact is that he does have that clinical ability, and maybe it's through the perspective thing, or maybe it's just because he knows he's better than everyone else in the way that Tiger Woods knew he was better than everybody else, he can shut the door on fields. And when he wins, he wins big. You know, all his major wins have been by three shots and more. And he is now just one win away from a career grand slam. And as we all know and had history kind of reminded to us when Rory did his career grand slam at the Masters earlier this year, he's going to join only six golfers who have ever achieved that.

26:10That's entirely feasible from what you've just said there, Ian. I think so. Shinnecock Hills next year, which is as near to a sort of link style of golf that you're going to play. And he's just played link style golf very, very nicely. Yeah, he'll be the hot favourite, you know, assuming fitness and form. He'll be the hot favourite at that US Open. And that will be the conversation in golf. and he could shut the door on a career grand slam in the blink of an eye, really, when you think how long it's taken Rory McIlroy. And that's what the absolute greats of the game managed to do. They all did it in much shorter windows than McIlroy was able to do it.