Man Utd Injury Update: Attacker Set To Miss World Cup Qualifiers Due To Injury

Manchester United have asked the Armenian Football Association to withdraw Henrikh Mkhitaryan from international duty as he continues to recover from a niggling thigh injury.

Mkhitaryan has endured a frustrating start to life at Old Trafford with the playmaker missing the last six matches in all competitions after picking up a thigh problem during the international break last month.

The 27-year-old suffered the injury during Armenia’s loss to the Czech Republic at the start of September and he was initially only expected to be on the sidelines for a short period of time but the injury has proven difficult to overcome.

The former Borussia Dortmund attacker returned to training with the rest of the United first team squad last week but he was still not considered fit enough to feature during the 1-1 draw with Stoke City at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

United have now written to the Armenian FA to ask that Mkhitaryan be withdrawn from international duty ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers as the club feel he’s still not ready to play and would be better served continuing his rehabilitation at Carrington.

The Armenian FA have taken the unusual step of publishing United’s official request on their website with the Red Devils’ medical chief Dr Steve McNally penning a letter saying:

“Henrikh is still undergoing late stage rehabilitation from the left thigh muscle injury that he sustained earlier this month whilst playing for Manchester United,” McNally’s said.

“Although his progress has been good over the past week, he is participating in limited aspects of team training and is not yet able to train fully without restrictions or play competitively.

“In view of that I would be grateful if he could be allowed to withdraw from the National Team for the forthcoming training camp and FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches in order to remain in Manchester to complete his rehabilitation.”

Armenia continue their World Cup qualifying campaign when they take on Romania and Poland over the coming week but it looks as though Mkhitaryan will miss the crucial games and remain in Manchester to work on his fitness.

The attacker will be desperate to get himself fit and available for selection for United’s next game as the Manchester giants head to Anfield to take on Liverpool on October 17th.