Man Utd confirm major injury blow with key man set to miss 6 games

Manchester United have been dealt a major injury blow after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed Paul Pogba isn’t expected to return until December as he continues to recover from an ankle issue.

Pogba has been plagued by the injury since the start of the season as he missed the games with Leicester, Astana and West Ham before making his return to play 90 minutes during the draws with Rochdale and Arsenal at the end of September.

However, the French international aggravated the ankle problem during the match with the Gunners and hasn’t been seen since with the midfielder sitting out Manchester United’s last five matches in all competitions.

Pogba recently spent time rehabilitating in Dubai and there were hopes he’d be back in contention early next month but Solskjaer has now provided a disappointing update following United’s 3-1 win at Norwich City.

The Norwegian coach confirmed that Pogba is no closer to returning to action and the United boss doesn’t expect the 26-year-old to be available for selection again until some point in December.

Solskjaer told ManUtd.com:

“I don’t think we’ll see Paul before December. He’ll be out for a while.

‘He needs time to fully recover. I don’t think he’ll be back, maybe for Sheffield United after the international break, but probably it will be December before we can see him.

‘I’m not a doctor but there is an injury there that needs healing. Yes, it’s his ankle.”

If Pogba doesn’t return until the start of December, he’ll miss United next six games in all competitions including matches against Chelsea, Bournemouth, Partizan Belgrade, Brighton, Sheffield United and Astana.

The Frenchman may target the home game against Aston Villa on December 1 as his comeback date but Solskjaer will be desperate to have the midfielder fully fit for the visit of Tottenham to Old Trafford three days later.

While there was bad news on Pogba, United’s injury problems are slowly easing elsewhere as Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have all returned to fitness recently while Luke Shaw and Nemanja Matic are reportedly close to returning to full training.