Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted that Harry Maguire’s fitness ‘doesn’t look great’ as he faces a race against time to prove himself fit before the Europa League final.
The United captain suffered an ankle injury in a 3-1 win over Aston Villa, raising questions about his availability for the European Championship final on May 26.
Solskjaer had previously stated that Maguire was feeling “positive” about the situation and that a last-minute decision on the England defender would be made before the final, but now admits that “it doesn’t look great” with only seven days to go.
Solskjaer provided an injury update on the defender during his post-match press conference following United’s 1-1 draw with Fulham on Tuesday.
“Harry [Maguire], we’re working on, doesn’t look great,” he told Sky Sports.
The news comes after Solskjaer stated that Maguire was hopeful of returning in time for the match against Villarreal.
“Hopefully we can have good news early, but I’ll give it a while on Harry,”
the United manager said ahead of the Fulham match.
“He’s shown his importance. I felt I became a very good player when I was injured. People realise what you can do.”
“Harry is our leader and he’s been a big miss at the moment. I’ll give him as long as he needs before he says yes or no”.
“He’s making progress but we don’t want to test it out too early. Harry wants this so much but he doesn’t want to take risks either.”
“When I spoke to him this morning, he was quite positive. We have to be positive and think he’s going to make it, until we have to say no. I’ve always been an optimist.”
Maguire’s interception, aerial duel, and passing statistics are among the best in the league, so he’d be a huge loss for United.
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