There is a very good chance that McRae will go with Subaru. The decision was between him and Burns in the first instance and Citroen only chose Sainz for marketing reasons.
Guy Frequelin was quoted recently by Autosport as stating "How can you chose between Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz? In the end it came down to marketing...It was a marketing decision, certainly not a driving decision. These new regulations made things very, very difficult for me and I am sorry to lose Colin."
With regards to the supposed overlap between the Dakar and the Monte Carlo Rally, Jimmy McRae told The Herald newspaper today that while tight there is still time between the end of the Dakar and the begining of the Monte RECCE - not the begining of the Monte itself. Granted the Dakar could over-run but as it stands right now, there is no reason why Colin cannot do both.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/4767.html
And who exactly is claiming that McRae "hasn't been competitive for a while now"? What is your definition of a while? A couple of months? If so does that mean Burns was not competitive given that he hasn't won a rally in two years?! Come on - get real.