UK Edition
Manchester United rule Marouane Fellaini out for a month with calf injury, ruining chances of a move
Marouane Fellaini has been ruled out for up to a month with a calf injury as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warned his Manchester United players there could be no let-up after their impressive start under him.
Solskjaer said Fellaini’s absence could end any prospect of fellow midfielder Scott McTominay leaving on loan during the winter window.
Although a big part of former manager Jose Mourinho’s plans, the Belgium midfielder's future has been thrown into doubt following Solskjaer’s appointment and the move to a quicker, slicker style of football.
Yet the injury could complicate the possibility of the player - who is out of contract at the end of next season after signing a two-year extension last June under Mourinho and has only played 31 minutes under Solskjaer - leaving this month.
“He’ll probably be at least three or four weeks, he’s got a calf problem and that’s sad,” Solskjaer said. “There’s an X-factor in different players and we all know Felli’s X-factor and then again he’ll be working hard to get back in when all the big games are coming as well.
“Scott is working hard, he’s a young boy I still believe in. We’re working on his contract, with the injuries of Felli as well and the squad we have, I’m not sure we’re going to see any movement [in the window].”
Paul Pogba claimed this week that United’s biggest danger after six successive wins, culminating in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Spurs, was “overconfidence”. United have reduced the gap to the top four from 11 points to six since Mourinho was sacked a week before Christmas but Solskjaer said the threat was more complacency than overconfidence ahead of Saturday’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
“Overconfident? No, you cannot be too confident, it’s complacency, it’s the other side of it,” he said. “I want players to be confident but not complacent and not take their foot off the pedal because that’s a big difference for me. Take people on, running passing forward getting the crowd with them because that's what it's about.
Alexis Sánchez has trained all week after a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury in the FA Cup win over Reading, when Solskjaer wished the Chile forward had asked to come off earlier. But Sánchez is due to return against Brighton and Solskjaer says the player is “champing at the bit”.
“You have to ask him, a player loves to play football, it doesn’t matter who you are and he’s been hindered by injury,” the caretaker manager said.
“I know how frustrating that can be and how eager you are to get back. Maybe in the Reading game at half time he should have told me to come off because the next 15 or 20 minutes were a setback. But he’s champing at the bit in training.
“His attitude has been fantastic in training and I’m looking forward to seeing him. I’ve got loads of good players to choose from.
“You go into every single game as a Manchester United coach, as a player or manager, thinking you’ll win the next one, that’s just the nature of this club. We’ve had six good games but the next one is the most important one. Everyone said about Tottenham being the test, I don’t think that’s a test in attitude, the players are going be up for that game. I’m looking for a reaction in a home game against a team you should dominate and be better than ... these are the points that will get you up the table.”
Mourinho appeared to suggest the players were too powerful at Old Trafford during an interview with beIN Sports on Thursday. But Solskjaer said he was enjoying his time with the squad.
“I can’t really comment on everything he says and I’m enjoying working with these boys and that’s all I can say,” he said.
Solskjaer added that he has found a new home and is on the verge of moving out of his hotel a month after his appointment.
Mourinho spent his entire two and a half year reign at United living out of a suite at the Lowry hotel in Salford, a short hop from Manchester city centre.
But Solskjaer is ready to vacate the Lowry, where he has been staying since replacing Mourinho on an interim basis a week before Christmas, as he spoke about how quickly he has settled back into life in Manchester.
“I love it to be fair, and I have to say I look forward to getting up in the morning to start work again, I always do in football,” he said.
“Molde, Cardiff, I love working with people, trying to improve people and when you are here you want to go to bed at night and get up in the morning again.
“I'm still in the hotel but I've found a place so I won't be too long. I've been driving around a bit to find my bearings again. I've got mates here so I have been to see a few of them so it's not like I'm stuck in the hotel on my own.”