“He will be out for a few weeks,” Amorim explained. “I don’t know how long it will be, but it’s not that serious. We have to be careful with him.
“He’s going to recover. He’s continuing to recover and he’s feeling better, so we expect him to be back in the next few weeks.”
“I think he’ll be back more or less at the same time as Amadou and (Brian) Mbeumo leave for AFCON. I don’t want to say for sure, but I think Ben will be back by the time they go to camp.”
Amorim was also asked about the availability of Harry Maguire and Koby Mainu ahead of Monday’s game against Everton, with United hoping to extend their five-game unbeaten run.
“Maguire is not ready,” the United manager added. “Coby didn’t train today, but I think I’ll see him tomorrow, so we’ll see.”
He also revealed that Lisandro Martinez is “getting close” to returning to the pitch after being sidelined since February.
Martinez was carried off on a stretcher in tears during a home game against Crystal Palace last season. It was later revealed that he had seriously injured his knee ligaments and would be sidelined for several months.
In recent weeks, the 27-year-old has stepped up his training regime, moving closer to his long-awaited return to match fitness. It remains to be seen whether he will feature in any capacity against Everton on Monday night.
Looking ahead to the Christmas period when United will be without African players, Amorim added: “If we have to release a player there are rules and we’ll see.”
“We’re doing our job to try to keep the players a little longer, but it’s not in our hands. We’re going to do everything we can to protect the club, protect the players and protect the national team.”
“I think they will leave two weeks before the start of[AFCON]so we will try to get something with the federation, but in this case we will have to respect their wishes.”
