Jadon Sancho has received backing from fellow Manchester United outcast Marcus Rashford following a cryptic post on social media. Both Sancho and Rashford departed on loan this summer, with the former joining Aston Villa and the latter heading to Barcelona, though their temporary stints have yielded contrasting fortunes.

The 25-year-old has yet to register a goal or assist at Villa Park, accumulating just 529 minutes across all competitions. In contrast, Rashford has established himself as a regular contributor in Spain, notching seven goals and providing 11 assists across 24 outings.

Despite the wealth of attacking options available to Hansi Flick, the 28-year-old has frequently been utilised as a substitute. This was evident during the weekend’s La Liga victory over Villarreal, where Spanish press delivered their assessment of his brief appearance.

Sancho has remained unused in two of Villa’s previous three league fixtures as Unai Emery’s side continue their impressive form. Their most recent success came against United, though Sancho was ineligible to feature against his parent club.

Following that encounter, Sancho shared several images on Instagram, including a quote stating: “You gotta serve a purpose to be around me in my new season. It’s real personal.”

The post drew likes from United trio Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Tyrell Malacia, whilst Villa team-mates Amadou Onana, Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen left comments. Sancho’s next appearance in a Villa shirt is expected to come in the FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham at the beginning of January.

In the meantime, Emery’s outfit faces a daunting run of fixtures, with away trips to Arsenal, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, as well as hosting Nottingham Forest at Villa Park.

Manchester United, by contrast, find themselves with a far more favourable festive calendar. Following their home encounter with Newcastle, who have managed just a solitary victory on their travels in the Premier League, United welcome Wolves to Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim’s side then head to newly-promoted sides Leeds United and Burnley in the new year. The Red Devils may be forced to tackle those matches without skipper Bruno Fernandes, who appeared to sustain a hamstring problem during the Villa fixture.

Amorim revealed: “Bruno has an injury that we need to assess. I think he’s not going to play for a few games, but we’ll see. Last year we had the same situation at this time, so it is not going to kill us – it is going to make us stronger.”

United have already been managing without Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt for over a month, whilst Kobbie Mainoo has also been nursing a minor complaint.

With Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui on international duty at AFCON in the coming weeks, the absence of players such as Sancho or Rashford will be keenly felt at Old Trafford.