HARRY MAGUIRE looks set to miss Manchester United’s final four Premier League games in his race against time to be fit for the Europa League final.
The United skipper, although hopeful of being fit for the Villarreal clash, is awaiting the results of an scan after suffering an ankle injury on Sunday against Aston Villa.
Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will do everything possible to get Maguire ready for the May 26 final against the Spanish side in Poland.
And this means Maguire will miss Tuesday’s home game with former club Leicester and Thursday’s clash with Liverpool.
He is also unlikely to feature against Fulham next Tuesday or Wolves on the final day of the season on May 23.
Maguire is determined to win his fitness race but if the scan results show a problem, he will have to ensure he is ready for Euro 2020.
The centre-back had played every minute in the Premier League for United since his £85million move from Leicester in 2019.
Solskjaer will not be the only manager sweating over the extent of the damage suffered by the big defender.
Gareth Southgate’s England kick-off their European Championship campaign next month at home to Croatia on June 13, with Maguire a key figure in the Three Lions chief’s preferred back-five.
Despite losing their talisman, United came from behind to keep their slim title chance alive.
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Goals from Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Greenwood and Edinson Cavani sealed a 3-1 win to keep them clear in second-place behind leaders Manchester City.
On Maguire, Solskjaer said afterwards: “Hopefully [the Europa League final] will be OK with Harry. I don’t know.
“We need to check it. It might be a few weeks or a month – we don’t know.
It was his ankle or lower leg. I think the player landed on him and he twisted something.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
