‘More than just a friend’ – Marcus Rashford’s touching message to Jesse Lingard as former Man Utd team-mates reunited

MARCUS RASHFORD posted a touching message to his “bro” Jesse Lingard as the former team-mates were reunited last night.

Rashford, 25, and Lingard, 30, both came through the Manchester United academy having grown up in the city.

APMarcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard caught up on Tuesday night[/caption]

APThe pair swapped shirts and were delighted to see each other as United beat Forest[/caption]

They had a special bond during their time at the club and even represented England together.

But after Lingard left on a free transfer to Nottingham Forest in the summer, Tuesday’s clash at Old Trafford gave them a chance to catch up.

The duo swapped shirts at full-time and were pictured smiling together after the 3-0 win for United with Rashford opening the scoring from a well-worked corner.

Rashford and Lingard took to Instagram with a joint post sharing the snaps.

The United forward wrote: “More than just a friend, good to see you bro.”

Lingard added: “All love bro.”

The Forest man, who limped off on 53 minutes, then added another post relating to the game and his return to his former home: “Disappointing result to end the year. Time to focus on the next game.

“Just want to say thank you for the warm reception, Old Trafford will always have a special place in my heart and Nottingham Forest fans unbelievable support once again thank you.”

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Lingard clearly still has a strong relationship with some of his former team-mates and the United supporters after joining United aged eight and making 232 appearances.

But in the build-up to the Premier League clash, the midfielder hit out at the club with a stinging blast, claiming he was sold “false promises” and that his axing may have been “political”.

Lingard was frozen out by both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick – and reckons there may have been more to it than initially met the eye.

He told The Telegraph: “I don’t know why I wasn’t playing. I don’t know what the problem was, whether it was politics or whatever.

“I still haven’t got an answer to this day. I didn’t even ask. 

“I’d rather that someone out of respect for me being there that long told me, ‘This is why you’re not playing’, but I never got that.

“It was false promises. I was training hard and I was sharp, I was ready to play them games. 

“When you’re working hard in training and don’t play at the end of it, it’s very frustrating.

“I’m not really the type of guy to sulk, around the dressing room I’m always that bubbly character with good vibes.  

“I was getting on with my training and doing my work, then here and there I’d come on and try to give my best. The last year was difficult.”

ReutersThe duo came through the United academy having grown up in Manchester[/caption]