Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that Nemanja Matic has suffered an injury despite only recently reporting to pre-season duty with the club in the United States.
The Serbia international missed the opening two pre-season games after being offered an extended break for his World Cup exploits but he was a surprise absentee for the recent outing versus AC Milan, which United won by a thrilling 9-8 penalty shoot-out.
Speaking after the game, Mourinho refused to specify the exact injury for the Serbian but confirmed that the midfielder has joined the injured list alongside captain Antonio Valencia, who is presently nursing a calf problem.
“The important thing for me is with the group of players we have – and losing already Valencia and Matic – even worse to play against Milan’s best team and to play the way we did and get the result that could be even better than it was I think was good.” he said.
Manchester United are scheduled to take on Liverpool in their next game of the International Champions Cup and judging by Mourinho’s comments, Matic may potentially not play any part during the friendly encounter.
With less than three weeks left until the new season, United find themselves short of senior options with match fitness on their side, and hopefully Matic and new signing Fred can feature during the latter part of pre-season to make themselves ready for the curtain raiser versus Leicester City.
Am afraid