After making his debut for Aston Villa on Sunday, Jadon Sancho sent Marcus Rashford a one-word message that infuriated a number of Manchester United supporters.
Rashford, who had struggled at Old Trafford after losing the respect of manager Ruben Amorim, made his getaway last month when he signed a loan deal with Aston Villa till the conclusion of the current campaign.
Coming off the bench in Villa’s FA Cup fourth-round triumph over rival Premier League team Tottenham, the 27-year-old played his first game since mid-December. The Midlands club may extend his contract this summer.
Sancho, another former Red Devils exile, expressed his support for Rashford on social media on Sunday after he posted a number of images on Instagram, saying he was happy to watch his old teammate start over away from Old Trafford.
“Freedom,” the Chelsea loanee said, adding a blessing and uplifted hands emoji to his message.
Under previous Red Devils head coach Erik ten Hag, Sancho, who like Rashford is still formally bound by his contract with Manchester United, had a similarly difficult time at Old Trafford.
After failing to provide an apology to Ten Hag for practically calling the manager a liar for his exclusion from a matchday team to play Arsenal in 2023, the former England international was frozen out.
After more than a year of a falling out with the Dutch manager, who had openly criticized Sancho’s training methods at Manchester United, Sancho left Old Trafford, first on loan to Borussia Dortmund and then Chelsea.
Many United supporters were enraged by the now-Chelsea star’s remark and quickly responded beneath the striker’s post.
Another commented, sarcastically hinting to Rashford’s departure from Old Trafford: “Bad attitude = freedom.”
‘What the flop you guys are,’ a third supporter said.
“Y’all should form lazy bros fc,” one more person said.
‘Freedom from Hardwork….. Sancho, same with you,’ commented another devotee.
There are many parallels between Rashford and Sancho’s exits, as both players went from being the team’s star to being banished.
Rashford rose through the academy and immediately became Manchester United’s future star, while Sancho paid a whopping £73 million to join the Red Devils in 2021.
In Manchester, Rashford had better times than Sancho. Before things went south, he scored an incredible 29 goals in the 2022–2023 season and 138 goals overall for the team.
The 27-year-old’s poor performance during the previous season caused him to drop further in Ten Hag’s hierarchy, and as a result, he was cut from Gareth Southgate’s England team for the 2024 European Championships.
Soon after arriving at Old Trafford, Rashford and Amorim had a falling out, and at the beginning of January, he made the shocking announcement that he wanted to quit his boyhood club.
The forward, burdened by the weight of being one of the Red Devils’ most senior players and most paid players, was widely criticized by supporters and commentators for his demeanor both on and off the field prior to his departure.
Amorim openly questioned Rashford’s commitment and lifestyle prior to his move to Aston Villa, warning the player that he needed to change if he wanted to have any chance of regaining his plans.
Despite the fact that the Englishman had just played 59 days before to his Aston Villa debut, Unai Emery expressed faith in his abilities but admitted that regaining his best form might be challenging.
The Spaniard declared last week: “I am really pleased with him.” All I want from him is the best football, and the talks I’ve had with him have been fairly typical—a player and coach talking about football.
He has been introduced to the dressing room as another player who is assisting us, both personally and professionally. He has a lot of potential to be used. I’m not interested in finding out why he’s leaving Manchester United.
I’m thrilled to have him here in an effort to assist him improve his performances. His challenge to us is thrilling, and mine is enormous. In the window, the club performed well.
In Sunday’s match against Spurs, Rashford was impressive, touching the ball 22 times and completing 13 passes with a 93% accuracy rate. In addition, he prevailed in one aerial battle and three of five ground duels.
Following the game, he posted a nine-word message to his new fans on Instagram with the caption, “Thank you for the warm welcome.” Excellent teamwork.
With their victory at Villa Park, his team advanced to the FA Cup final 16 for the first time since 2015.
Liverpool, one of their Premier League rivals, suffered an upset loss to Plymouth. On Monday night, the fifth round draw will take place.