Chelsea loanee Jadon Sancho appeared to take a swipe at Manchester United as he reacted to Marcus Rashford's debut for Aston Villa.
Rashford came off the bench for the Lions in their 2-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, his first appearance in any competition for almost two months.
The 27-year-old had been frozen out of the Man United ranks by new head coach Ruben Amorim, who was allegedly unimpressed with Rashford's training performances and his overall mood around Carrington.
However, Villa boss Unai Emery was willing to take a punt on Rashford, and the Champions League contenders also have the option to keep the England international permanently for £40m at the end of the season.
Rashford's former teammate Sancho is also set to leave permanently for Chelsea, who possess an obligation to make the winger's stay permanent, and the latter aimed a sly dig at his parent club on Instagram after Rashford's debut.
Sancho comments "freedom" on Rashford post after Villa debut
© Imago
The Aston Villa new boy posted a photo from Sunday's game of him coming onto the field for his debut with the caption: "Thank you for the warm welcome. Great team performance," followed by a raised hands emoji.
Sancho subsequently left a one-word comment underneath stating "freedom", also accompanied by the raised hands and prayer emojis, suggesting that Rashford is now free from his Man United shackles.
Rashford excelled under Erik ten Hag during the Dutchman's debut season in 2022-23, playing his way into a new contract with 30 goals in all competitions, but he failed to live up to those standards in the next campaign.
The 27-year-old registered seven goals and three assists in 24 games for the Red Devils in the first half of the 2024-25 season, but his last appearance for Amorim's side came all the way back on December 12 against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League.
Rashford will leave Man United with a total of 138 goals and 63 assists in 426 matches should Villa exercise their buy option, but he is also said to be open to a move to Barcelona if Emery's side decide against triggering that clause.
How did the Sancho Man United saga unfold?
Jadon Sancho's comment on Marcus Rashford's Instagram post after his Aston Villa debut 👀 pic.twitter.com/Hni3RX2saa
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) February 10, 2025
While Rashford was busy pulling up trees in the 2022-23 season, Sancho was struggling to justify his £73m price tag and was granted some time away from the team to improve his physical and mental wellbeing.
However, the former Borussia Dortmund man then had his high-profile falling-out with Ten Hag, who left him out of the squad for a defeat to Arsenal in September 2023 and publicly criticised the winger's training performances.
Sancho refuted the Dutchman's version of events on social media, thus beginning a lengthy stand-off between player and manager, who banished him from the first-team setup and refused to re-integrate him while Sancho failed to apologise.
The 24-year-old impressed while back on loan at Borussia Dortmund for the second half of last season, helping the German giants make the Champions League final, and he eventually buried the hatchet with Ten Hag heading into pre-season.
Sancho did take part in some non-competitive matches for Man United last year, but he was not brought back into the competitive fold and has almost certainly also played his last game for the Red Devils.
Ben Knapton
