"Will forever be indebted" - Marcus Rashford posts hearfelt message to ex-Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal after cancer diagnosis 

Marcus Rashford has taken to Twitter to offer support to Louis van Gaal after the former Manchester United manager made the shock announcement that he was battling cancer.

The ex-Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Ajax coach was being interviewed about his new film, LOUIS, on live Dutch TV program Humberto when he revealed the devastating news, as reported by the Daily Mail.

The 70-year-old Dutchman disclosed that he had kept the diagnosis private and did not tell his players that he was fighting an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

He told the program:

"In each period during my time as manager of the national team I had to leave in the night to go to the hospital without the players finding it out until now, while thinking I was healthy. But.. I am not."

"I think you don't tell people you work with like that because it might influence their choices, their decisiveness. "So I thought they shouldn't know. You don't die from prostate cancer, at least not in ninety percent of the cases."

"It is usually other underlying diseases that kill you. But I had a pretty aggressive form, got irradiated 25 times. Then you have a lot of management to do in order to go through life. I did have preferential treatment in the hospital. I was allowed in through the back door when I went to an appointment and was immediately pushed into another room."

"I have been treated wonderfully. You will of course tell your friends and relatives about it. The fact that nothing has come out yet also says something about my environment. That's great."

After the show aired on Sunday evening, Rashford posted his well wishes on social media and credited Van Gaal with the opportunity to represent the Manchester club.

On Monday morning, he wrote on Twitter:

"Earned my debut from LVG. Will forever be indebted. You can fight this. We are all behind you."

Rashford impressed under the former Manchester United coach

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League

Van Gaal gave Rashford his senior Manchester United debut in a Europa League tie against FC Midtjylland on 25 February 2016. Starting as a striker, the young Englishman helped himself to two goals in a comfortable 5-1 win.

Rashford followed that home debut with an all-round performance in a 3-2 victory against Arsenal three days later. The 24-year-old opened the scoring in the 29th minute before doubling the tally after just three minutes. Ander Herrera scored a third goal in the 65th minute to ensure a memorable victory for the Premier League debutant.

The English international took part in 16 more games, scoring six times, including in the 0-1 Manchester derby win on 20 March 2016. He was also part of Van Gaal's team that won the 2016 FA Cup.

However, in recent seasons, Rashford's output has waned, prompting reports from the Mirror that he might leave Manchester United in the summer.