UK Edition
Manchester United fear Paul Pogba will not return to action before international break in November
Paul Pogba is facing a battle to return to action before the international break in November.
The Manchester United midfielder has been sidelined for the past 16 days after suffering a tear to his left hamstring in the 3-0 Champions League win over Basel at Old Trafford.
But there is understood to be concern at United that Pogba might still be unavailable by the time they are due to face champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on November 5 - five-and-a-half weeks from now - in what is the club’s final game before that month’s round of international fixtures.
United’s first match after that international break is not until November 18, at home to Newcastle.
Pogba was scanned in the immediate aftermath of United’s victory over Basel but, given the bleeding and damage to the hamstring, a decision was taken to wait another week for further tests in the hope of gaining a more accurate assessment of the extent of the problem.
United are understood to have since consulted Sakari Orava, a Finnish muscle repair specialist, who recently operated on Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele’s ruptured tendon, to establish if Pogba may require surgery.
Orava reportedly told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that Pogba’s injury was “a little different to Dembele” and could “heal without surgery”. Pogba has been receiving treatment at United’s Carrington training base and, despite the injury, is said to have been in characteristically good spirits.
United manager Jose Mourinho has been unable to put a timescale publicly on Pogba’s lay-off although the Frenchman would miss his club’s next eight matches if he fails to return before November’s international programme, starting with Saturday’s visit of Crystal Palace.
Mourinho has other injury concerns ahead of that game, too. Midfielder Michael Carrick has been given “no chance” of facing Palace, according to the United manager, who also has doubts over Phil Jones, Marouane Fellaini and Anthony Martial.
Martial limped out of United’s 4-1 Champions League win over CSKA Moscow on Wednesday while Jones and Fellaini both missed the match.