Marcus Rashford made his Aston Villa debut at the weekend and his good friend Jadon Sancho was enthusiastic about it. "Freedom!" The England winger, who currently plays for Chelsea, commented. Although it was not named, the term was clearly a reference to his former club Manchester United, suggesting that the club had "imprisoned" Rasso, and perhaps Jadon Sancho himself.

Manchester United fans are no strangers to such plots. In December 2018, after Mourinho's class, Sanchez posted a video of his return to Carrington on social media, with the theme song "Now We Are Free" from "Gladiator" in the background. Sanchez was sending a message to Mourinho alone, while Sancho's sarcasm was aimed at the club.

United fans were clearly unhappy with Sancho's statement, and despite his loan move to Chelsea, United are still paying part of his £300,000-a-week salary, around £50,000. According to the Daily Mail, Rashford is also unhappy with the behaviour of his former team-mate and does not want to get involved in Jadon Sancho's conflict with the Red Devils.

Under the loan contract, Chelsea will pay Sancho £250,000 a week, while United will be responsible for £50,000 until 30 June, meaning the Reds will have to pay £2 million in wages. Chelsea are obliged to buy Jadon Sancho as long as they finish 14th or above in the Premier League, and it is only a matter of time before this happens, and he has already withdrawn from the Manchester United players' chat group. British media have revealed that Sancho has emptied his wardrobe in Carrington's dressing room and that he will not return to the club.

However, Sancho is still a Red Devils player at the moment, and criticising his club is clearly not what he should do. In the summer of 2021, United spent a whopping £73 million to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. His final goal for United came in a Community Shield penalty shoot-out in August last year, which the team lost.

A year ago, also on social media, Sancho angrily denounced manager Ten Hag as a liar, who abandoned the player against Arsenal and explained that this was the reason for the poor level of training. Sancho refused to apologize and was forced to train and eat alone before being sent back to Dortmund on loan. Sancho's apparent rapprochement with Ten Hag last summer made it easier for United to reach an agreement with Chelsea to send the 24-year-old on loan for between £20 million and £25million.

Sancho played 21 games at Stamford Bridge and scored two goals and six assists, which is arguably a slight improvement from his 12 goals and six assists in 83 games for Manchester United, but it is not very impressive. Although Ten Hag was sacked four months ago, Sancho still appears to hold a grudge against the Red Devils.

It is worth noting that Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford share a female PR adviser who also represents Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Mason Mount. The relationship between these players and Manchester United is not very ideal. Among them, the 27-year-old Rashford has publicly stated that he is ready to take on a new challenge after being dropped by Amorim and eventually joined Villa on loan.

However, Rashford's situation is different from that of Sancho. Manchester United is the team he has supported and joined since he was a child, and he wants to maintain a good relationship with the club and the fans. Sancho is already a sure departure, while Rashford could return, and if Villa choose not to activate the £40million buy-out clause, Rashford will have to return this summer.

Rashford's ideal plan is naturally to join a European giant, and the first choice is Barcelona in La Liga, but he and his two agent brothers also know that it may not be possible, so they are reluctant to do too much. In announcing his departure from Manchester United, he also insisted that he "would not speak ill of Manchester United". Despite being good friends, Rashford doesn't think he's in the same boat as Sancho.