Ruben Amorim didn’t want to talk about it, but Diogo Dalot did. Losing Bruno Fernandes is going to be a “massive” blow to Manchester United.
Portugal full-back Dalot said he did not know the extent of the injury that forced his team-mate for club and country out of the 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa at half-time.
But his assessment couldn’t have been clearer.
“It’s massive,” Dalot told Sky Sports. “We don’t know how bad it is but for him to come off, we know how tough he is.”
To put that into context, in his entire time at United, Fernandes has missed two games due to injury towards the end of 2023-24, when he was managing a knee complaint so he could play in the FA Cup final. He has also missed one match through illness.
Fernandes is United’s talisman and most creative force. Even dropping into a deeper role this season, he has five goals and seven assists. Until the game at Villa Park, there had been only four Premier League matches in which United had scored and he had failed to be involved in at least one goal.
Little wonder Amorim didn’t want to dwell on his captain’s impending absence for too long.
“I don’t want to talk about matters you can’t control,” he said. “It’s a soft tissue, I think he’s going to lose some games, I don’t know for sure. He is a guy who is always fit so he might recover quite well.”
However, Amorim did confirm Fernandes would miss the Boxing Day encounter with Newcastle at Old Trafford after initially pulling up towards the end of the first-half, feeling his hamstring.
He continued to half-time but did not reappear for the second half and when he eventually made his way to the visitors dugout, he was moving very slowly.
– BBC
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