Manchester United stars Matthijs de Ligt, Benjamin Sesco and Harry Maguire were notably absent from the team’s training session at Carrington on Thursday. The Red Devils are scheduled to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Monday, with manager Ruben Amorim expected to give an update on the squad at his pre-match press conference. After the game against Wolves, Amorim was vague about De Ligt’s return from injury, saying: “I don’t know, but when you have an idea you have to take it from day to day. I’m not going to say when he will be back.”
De Ligt missed the recent games against West Ham and Wolves due to injury. Although he did not participate in Thursday’s practice, the Dutch defender was seen fulfilling his media duties at Carrington. Striker Sesco’s status for the next game against Bournemouth remains unclear. His recovery from his knee injury appears to be progressing well, suggesting he may be fit to play.
Sesco was injured in the match against Tottenham on 8 November, and the game against Bournemouth had been set as a potential return date. On November 21, Amorim said: “He’s going to be out for a few weeks. We don’t know how long, but it’s not that serious. We have to be careful with him.”
Amorim’s statement last week said Maguire remains sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
The absence of senior players has paved the way for Shea Lacey, Jack Fletcher and Tyler Fredrickson to take part in training sessions. Lacey has been named in the squad for the last four Premier League games.
United manager Amorim has hinted that academy players will play a key role when Brian Mbeumo, Amad and Nouseir Mazraoui depart for the African Cup of Nations next week.
“I think it’s going to be difficult, but that’s the good thing about the experience. We spent last year with a lot of restrictions because we were replaced in January and we didn’t bring the players,” Amorim said.
“And we’ve had a lot of things happen, including Amad being injured for four months, so we’re ready for that, but there’s another baggage that we have to deal with, even if it’s difficult for us.
“And again, I think players like Jack Fletcher and Shea, a lot of the players, can step up and at the same time send a message to everyone in the academy here that this is the future. But we’re going to struggle and we need to be ready for that.”
Commenting on Lacey’s progress, Amorim added: “I’m really happy for him. I think he struggled a little bit with the injury, but they did a really good job of balancing his body. You can feel him being able to handle more loads during training.”
“He has a lot of talent but he needs to spend more time with us to prepare because the speed feels completely different when he comes here. They need to be ready because in Premier League games our training is hard and it becomes even more difficult when the pressure is on.”
