Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals injury blow and hints Man Utd will turn to ‘kids’
Alex Telles will miss the whole of August after Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed the defender’s ankle injury is worse than initially diagnosed.
The Brazilian left-back picked up the problem at the club’s pre-season training camp in Surrey. The knock forced him to return home early and he subsequently missed Saturday’s friendly defeat at QPR.
Solskjaer claimed initially that the 28-year-old would be “out for a few weeks” but the Norwegian has since painted a bleaker picture with Telles unlikely to play in August.
Telles will miss out on the opener against Leeds on August 14, before missing away trips against Southampton and Wolves.
“Unfortunately, it’s worse news on Alex Telles than we hoped for, his ankle injury is a little bit more severe than we hoped and he’ll be out for a little spell at least, the whole of August I would think,” Solskjaer told MUTV.
“That is football. We’ve got kids wanting to play of course. Brandon has done well in the left-back position.”
Telles’ absence will Solskjaer with an issue because first choice left-back Luke Shaw is also out.
Shaw is enjoying an extended break following his Euro 2020 campaign with England and will also not play in the first month of the season.
Solskjaer has hinted that 20-year-old Brandon Williams will likely be the man he turns to.
Williams broke into the first team in 2019/20 and made 17 Premier League appearances. However, he was afforded just four games in the Premier League last season and almost left on loan.
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Rashford injury
Now though he looks set to get a chance to impress in the first three games at least.
United will also be without Anthony Martial. The 25-year-old attacker is still recovering from a ruptured knee ligament he picked up on international duty at the end of March.
Marcus Rashford is also on the sidelines. The England man is understood to have aggravated a shoulder injury while at Euro 2020.
Solskjaer said: “Of course, he [Rashford] went away just to reflect on it a little bit. We have to take the best course of action for him and the club. We’re still addressing that with the experts.”
The uncertainty surrounding Rashford has meant Solskjaer has been “reluctant” to sanction Dane James’ exit despite his chances of regular game time looking bleak.
Leeds and Brighton have also shown interest, but per The Sun, the pair are set to be denied their wish.
READ MORE: Manchester United looking to offload Louis van Gaal signing with rivals ‘interested’
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