Rashford sends message to fans as footballers welcome the New Year

While many of us are enjoying an extended holiday at this time, the festive period is traditionally one of the busiest of the season for footballers.

With 16 teams in action on Boxing Day and the other four playing on December 27, most Premier League stars will have had to take it easy on Christmas Day.

But New Year's Eve could provide an opportunity for some players to let their hair down as 18 of the 20 Premier League teams do not have a fixture until January 4.

Meanwhile, most LaLiga teams are currently without a game until January 11, while the hoards of stars in Saudi Arabia are also enjoying an extended break.

On New Year's Eve Marcus Rashford uploaded a photo of himself sat on a sofa, with a framed Manchester United shirt on the wall behind him.

Rashford captioned the image with the words: 'Happy New Years. May 2025 bring you all happiness'.

The 27-year-old has been left out of the United squad by manager Ruben Amorim for four of the last five games, despite being physically fit to play.

He was an unused sub on Monday night when United were beaten 2-0 at home by Newcastle.

Rashford has spent his entire club career to date at Old Trafford but he recently admitted that he was 'ready for a new challenge'.

His New Year's message prompted multiple replies from United fans urging him not to leave.

'Don't leave brudda,' read one comment, while another fan wrote: 'Please stay'.

Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo also posted a positive New Year's message on Instagram, where he wrote: 'With gratitude for the year gone by, I step forward to embrace 2025.'

Gakpo accompanied the message with two photos. One showed the tiny hand of his son Samuel Seth, who was born in May. The other image - which had been taken as part of an October interview with GQ magazine - showed Gakpo petting his dog.

Meanwhile, ex-Barcelona forward Neymar - who is currently based in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal - celebrated the end of 2024 by throwing a Brazil-themed party in Abu Dhabi.

Neymar enjoyed some family time as he was joined by pregnant girlfriend Bruna Biancardi and his son from a previous relationship.

Former Brazil captain Neymar documented the celebrations via social media, including sharing a photo of himself and Biancardi with the Abu Dhabi skyline in the background.

But Aston Villa midfielder Ross Barkley had more cause for celebration than most footballers on the final day of 2024 as he broke the news that he had become a father for the first time.

Barkley shared a photo of himself staring lovingly at his new-born son Avery, alongside the words: 'Best way to end the year.'

The ex-Everton star's girlfriend, Katherine Pilkington, also took to Instagram on New Year's Eve.

Pilkington revealed that her and Barkley's son had been born on December 27.

Next to another cute baby photo, she wrote: 'Avery 27.12.24. Can't believe we get to keep you forever my perfect boy.'

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim will be hoping to start 2025 better than his side ended 2024 - with four consecutive defeats.

Amorim shared his New Year's message via United's official social media channels.

Addressing the club's fans, he wrote: 'I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone at Manchester United for your loyal support, and wish you all the very best for the new year.

'I know it will take a lot of hard work from everyone to get there, but I am very excited about where we can go together in 2025.'

One United player who may be happy to see the back of 2024, from a footballing perspective at least, is Alejandro Garnacho, who - like Rashford - has rather fallen out of favour since Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag.

Garnacho shared lots of photos on New Year's Eve, including multiple snaps of son Enzo following his birth in October.

The collage was captioned: 'Happy New Year' followed by a freezing face emoji, likely in reference to the cold winter weather in Manchester.

Former Arsenal and Chelsea forward Olivier Giroud, now of LAFC, and Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott also took to Instagram to share positive wishes for 2025.