Manchester United have been dealt an unwelcome injury blow after Harry Maguire was forced to withdraw from the England squad.
Harry Maguire is dealing with an injury scare after being forced to withdraw from the England squad.
Maguire played in England’s defeat to Brazil at the weekend, in which young teammate Kobbie Mainoo made his Three Lions debut.
The FA confirmed Maguire has returned to Manchester United for assessment after picking up an injury.
Fabrizio Romano reports Maguire is “not expected to be out for long time with injury initially described as not serious — scan will clarify more.”
No further details are yet known, with Maguire playing 65 minutes of the friendly at Wembley.
He had just returned from injury prior to the break, coming on as a substitute in United’s 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool.
Manchester United centre-back situation
Manchester United have only two senior centre-backs who currently look certain to be available for the next Premier League fixture, away at Brentford next Saturday.
These are Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof. The former is retired from international football and currently resting up, while the latter has one more game to play for Sweden this week.
Harry Maguire is now uncertain to be available, while Jonny Evans was not called into the Northern Ireland squad due to an ‘ongoing’ injury problem.
Lisandro Martinez is making good progress and there have been suggestions he could be available against Brentford, however, we will believe this when we actually see him back in training.
United do have 19-year-old defender Willy Kambwala available. He has one professional start to his name, and is likely to make the matchday squad next weekend.
Situation could change ahead of Brentford game
The injury situation at centre-back does sound a little bleak, with United facing Brentford, Chelsea and Liverpool in an eight-day span.
However, it is likely to get better rather than worse, and the picture could change over the course of the week.
Maguire may be fit, and this withdrawal simply a precaution. Evans may turn out to be recovered from his ongoing issues after a rest.
And Martinez may delight us by making a return at Carrington and declaring himself fit.
The various issues have been persistent all season in defence, highlighting why United need so many options, with persistent games at club and country level taking their toll on thefirst team squad.