Bharath Rammr
Manchester United have been delivered another major blow, as defender Luke Shaw is expected to miss the start of next season with a major injury. The defender had to be substituted after just 9 minutes into the match against Swansea. The game finished as a 1-1 draw, much to the frustration manager Jose Mourinho. The result also gives the initiative back to Liverpool and Manchester City when it comes to finishing in the top four. Mourinho claimed after the game that he expected the Luke Shaw’s injury to be very serious. It has indeed turned out to be the case, as the defender has had his ligaments damaged quite badly.
Shaw will be meeting a specialist in order to return to the pitch as soon as possible. It is yet another blow for the defender, who has missed a major chunk of the campaign due to injuries. Since his arrival from Southampton, the England defender has played very little football. This major injury once again puts his future at United under a lot of doubt.
Meanwhile, Mourinho will have to dive deep into the squad in order to find a replacement for these two players, as the club is already hit with numerous injuries and suspensions going into the next 4 games, which could be extremely important for the campaign as a whole.
United are up against Arsenal and Tottenham in back-to-back away games in the Premier league, while these games will be sandwiched by meetings with Celta de Vigo in the Europa League semi-final. Since the destiny of the club finishing 4th in the league table depends on United’s result in the Europa league, the club will be placing a lot more emphasis on it as it would make them qualify for the Champions League next season. Mourinho is expected to place all his eggs into this basket, although it has never been his way of doing things.
Eric Bailly is another injury concern for the club after he had to go off in the second half against Swansea. The summer signing has also missed games due to major injuries, and it is expected that he will be out for at least a couple of weeks.
Manchester United currently have the second-highest list of injuries in the league, with Luke Shaw, Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, and Fosu-Mensah all on the treatment table. Marouane Fellaini is suspended in the Premier league after receiving a sending-off against Manchester City. It is certainly going to be difficult for Jose Mourinho to deal with this crisis and it will be interesting to see how the Portuguese manager handles the situation.
