Revealed: The Man Utd loan star that Rashford wants back

Robin Bairner

• 12 Nov 2022 12:27 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United have eight players away on loan this season, four from the first team and four from their youth ranks.

It has been revealed, however, that attacker Marcus Rashford is missing one of these stars in particular.

Eric Bailly, who finds himself at Marseille this season, shared an image on Instagram that displays a DM from Rashford showing that the England man wants him back at Old Trafford.

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“I miss u erriccccccc,” Rashford says in the message, with a love heart to sign off.

Bailly responded via Instagram stories, posting: “This msg cn make my day... Miss you too Rashi.”

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Bailly impressing in France but...

Bailly’s loan spell in Marseille has only been semi-successful to date. Injuries have limited him to only nine appearances out of a possible 17 in all competitions, though when he has been on the field, he has been impressive for Igor Tudor’s side.

Worryingly, though, he has only completed 90 minutes on two occasions since joining the Stade Velodrome outfit in the middle of August.

His most recent outing summed up what a frustrating season he has had. He started the must-win Champions League match against Tottenham but managed only nine minutes of the game before going off with what proved to be a hamstring niggle.

Prior to that, he had been forced out of a vital Ligue 1 encounter against PSG with an injury in the first half.

This echoes what has been a frustrating period in his career at Manchester United, with constant physical setbacks preventing him from reaching his best level.

He has shown in glimpses in France, though, that if he can get fit, he could potentially feature in Erik ten Hag’s thinking at Man Utd, particularly with the future of Harry Maguire set to be elsewhere. Bailly’s problem, though, is getting fit and staying fit.