Marcus Rashford the first Englishman for 40 years
The blaugrana forward line has a new addition for the 2025/26 season in Marcus Rashford. Born in Manchester and having played many years for Manchester United, the Englishman joins Barça after a six month loan at Aston Villa.
As such, Rashford has become the first Englishman to play for Barça in the last 40 years, taking on the baton from Gary Lineker, a true institution in his country.
Lineker: 58 goals with Barça
Gary Lineker was the last Englishman to wear blaugrana, spending three seasons at the Club from 1986 to 1989. This was long enough for the player from Leicester to become a legendary player for Barça, though, as he went on to score 58 goals and win a Spanish Cup (1987/88) and a European Super Cup (1988/89).
Englishmen commonly featured at the start of the 20th century
Lineker was the last Englishman to play for Barça, but several played for the blaugrana club at the turn of the 20th century. The first were Gillespie, John Parsons, Stanley Harris and Fitzamurice, all of whom made their debuts in 1899 when the Club was founded. The number of male English players dropped off notably ever since however.
It's worth mentioning the curious case of Marcus McGuane, an Englishman who played in the 2018 Catalan Super Cup while at Barça Atlètic, albeit he never played for the first team.