Manchester United youngster JJ Gabriel has thanked Marcus Rashford after he completed his loan move to Aston Villa.

The 27-year-old swapped Old Trafford for Villa Park on Sunday as he goes in search of first-team minutes after being left out of Ruben Amorim's side in recent months. Rashford has been at the centre of the transfer conversation during the winter transfer window after finding playing time hard to come by.

His 58-minute outing against Viktoria Plzen was the last outing for United as he was brought off while they trailed against the Czech club. On Sunday, he completed his switch to the Midlands in search to reignite his career.

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On his departure post on Instagram, Gabriel commented: "All the best thanks for taking pens with me other day."

The 14-year-old is a well-known figure around United's academy set-up as he was given the nickname 'Kid Messi' after clips of him training and completing specialist skills went viral when he was younger and there is excitement building about his potential. Gabriel's comment offered an insight into the mentality of Rashford despite the frustrating period where he was left out of all but one squad since the win over Plzen in mid-December.

It comes after United icon Wayne Rooney revealed that he'd seen Rashford training away from the first-team, close to where the academy players were playing.

"I went into Carrington on Sunday to take my kids to game day, and Marcus was out on the training pitch with the fitness coach," he said.

"But he was right over towards where the parents were walking past for the kids' games. I looked at him, thinking how embarrassing it must be for him as parents walk past.

"I was surprised when [Rashford's training issues] started over two years ago, but now I'm not."