Marcus Rashford received a message of support from another Manchester United exile following his Aston Villa debut.
The forward made his first appearance for his new club in their 2-1 FA Cup victory over Tottenham on Sunday following his loan exit from the Red Devils last month.
While fans had to be patient, Unai Emery made the decision to bring Rashford on after 66 minutes to replace Donyell Malen.
With the score 2-0 in Villa’s favour, Emery was clearly keen to add more goals to the tally.
But while that didn’t happen, Rashford will be hoping that it was a the start of a new chapter in his career.
The 27-year-old was given a warm welcome by fans at Villa Park with supporters holding up signs saying ‘welcome Rashford’ and ‘please can I have your shirt’ – something that was clearly appreciated.
Taking to Instagram after the game, Rashford shared a series of pictures and wrote: “Thank you for the warm welcome.
Great team performance.”
Among the replies to the post was Jadon Sancho who commented: “Freedom,” with the praying hands and raised hands emojis.
Sancho can no doubt relate to Rashford’s recent Man United struggles having also been out in the cold before securing his loan move to Chelsea.
Since joining the Blues, Sancho has made 22 appearances for Enzo Maresca‘s side, scoring two goals and providing six assists.
With an obligation to move to Stamford Bridge permanently in the summer, the winger will be delighted to be showing a glimpse of the ability that saw him move to Old Trafford for £73million in 2021.
For Rashford, the move to Villa offers a similar opportunity to reignite his career.
Rashford’s last appearance for the Red Devils was a Europa League fixture against Viktoria Plzen on December 12.
The 60-cap England international was frozen out by Red Devils boss Amorim following his admission in December he was ‘ready for a new challenge.’
Amorim was especially critical of what he believed to be a lack of effort from Rashford on the training ground.
The United boss even claimed he would rather have Jorge Vital, his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach, on the bench over Rashford, who he said ‘doesn’t give the maximum every day’.
“Imagine a talent like Rashford, our team should be so much better with him – but he has to change,” Amorim said.
“If he changes, we are more than welcome [to include him] – and we need it. But in this moment, we have to set some standards. We are waiting for Rashford, if he wants it really bad.
“You [the media] want to make it personal, I have nothing against Marcus, but I have to make the same rules for everybody.
“We need goals, we need [players who can go] one against one, we need threat in the final third.”
With a loan until the end of the season ahead of him, Rashford will now be desperate to prove Amorim wrong.
