Arsenal defender Rob Holding has revealed how Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford messaged him to apologise for causing his long-term injury.
Holding ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and was ruled out for the remainder of the 2018/19 season after a coming together with Rashford at Old Trafford in December 2018.
The 23-year-old, who is expected to need between six to nine months of rehabilitation, says there are no hard feelings between him and the United forward after the accident.
"Marcus text me when the [extent of the] injury came out," Holding told Arsenal's website.
"He just dropped me a text and just said, 'Hi mate, sorry to hear about the injury, I didn't mean it in any malicious way'.
"I didn't take it as a personal attack on me, it's just football. I just replied to him like, 'Yeah mate, don't worry about it, it's football, you didn't even make a tackle, you just sort of ran into me, there's nothing in it, I'm not going to be judging you off that'. I've got nothing but respect for him and just wished him the best for the season.
"It wasn't until a few nights when I was sort of in bed and on FaceTime to my girlfriend and just talking, and then thinking about it more, and then you sort of realise how long it's going to be and you're not going to play football, or kick a ball for three or four months.
"But yeah, that's what it was and then it was just about a long road to recovery basically."
Holding has returned to training at Arsenal's London Colney base during the close season and is expecting to return to the first-team squad for the start of the new Premier League season.