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Few sports can spin a narrative quite like football. It’s a sport which will allow Cristiano Ronaldo a fairytale return to Manchester United, and yet still manage to cast him as a pantomime villain forced towards an acrimonious exit after locking horns with a doomed Dutch despot. Or something like that.

A wayward son

Ever the romantics, the Red Devils could be set up for another happily-ever-after, but it’s one they should cold-heartedly avoid. Marcus Rashford, once poised to break United records and write his name forever in the club’s lore, could be in line for a return to Old Trafford this summer.

The English winger is currently on loan at Barcelona, who have an option to buy but are playing coy about whether they will follow through with the purchase. Straight away it’s worth noting that the notoriously thrifty Catalans were always likely to do this as a bargaining tactic and will most likely still sign Rashford, who has been very effective as part of their title-chasing attack.

But if they don’t, the 28-year-old will be sent packing back to Manchester to give his boyhood club something to consider.

A possibility

Rashford was part of a...