Ruben Amorim has given an injury update on Bruno Fernandes after the midfielder had to be withdrawn through injury in the defeat against Aston Villa
Ruben Amorim maintains that Manchester United won’t tear up their January transfer strategy despite captain Bruno Fernandes suffering a muscle injury during the clash with Aston Villa.
Fernandes joined fellow midfielder Kobbie Mainoo on the treatment table after pulling out on the eve of the match. The Portuguese grabbed his hamstring towards the end of the first half at Villa Park and was substituted at half-time, with Amorim confirming it was a soft tissue issue. Mainoo picked up a calf problem during Saturday’s training session and was unable to feature in the squad.
Both midfield players are set to miss the Boxing Day encounter with Newcastle when United’s depth will be pushed to breaking point. Casemiro will rejoin the team after completing his suspension against Aston Villa, but the struggling Manuel Ugarte remains the only other available senior central midfielder.
Amorim will seek alternatives against the Magpies, but stressed he won’t use the injuries as justification for poor performance. Lisandro Martinez was introduced in midfield against Aston Villa whilst Jack Fletcher earned his first-team debut from the substitutes’ bench.
“It’s a soft tissue, I think he’s going to lose some games, I don’t know for sure. Let’s see,” Amorim said of Fernandes.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about matters you can’t control. He is a guy who is always fit so he might recover quite well.
“I think Kobbie might be out [against Newcastle], Bruno is out, so we will see, we are going to find solutions, no excuses, we need to win the next game and we will try to win the next game.”
United are hesitant to pursue a short-term signing in January, with Amorim confirming his commitment to the long-term strategy and stating he won’t be pressuring director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada for a quick fix.
They are poised to make a bid for Antoine Semenyo when the transfer window opens, with the forward expected to depart Bournemouth next month, though a midfield acquisition may need to be delayed until the summer.
“What we cannot do is to reach January and try to do everything in urgency and make mistakes,” said Amorim. “And then here we go again with a lot of mistakes. I’m not going to get with Jason under Omar and I’m going to say we need a lot of players because we have a plan.
“If we have to suffer, the club comes first. Of course, we are in the moment that we need points, but we need to find solutions and we are going to continue with our plan. Of course, you can feel that in this moment we are going to struggle, but we’ll see.”