According to The Manchester Evening News, Manchester United are considering a loan move for a centre-back after it was confirmed Harry Maguire has suffered a hip injury.
What’s the word?
The England international appeared to sustain the problem in the FA Cup third round clash against Wolves at Molineux, but stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. The 26-year-old however subsequently missed the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against rivals Manchester City on Tuesday night, and it has now been revealed that he will be out for the foreseeable future with the injury.
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As such, The Manchester Evening News claim the Red Devils are on the look-out for a possible short-term fix in this January transfer window. The report further claims that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are quite cautious over the returns from injury of both Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe, whilst Marcos Rojo has not played in a couple of months amid reports of a potential move away.
Short-sighted
Doing deals in the January market is notoriously difficult given that teams are reluctant to lose their best players mid-season. So for United to contemplate a loan deal really does limit the kind of quality they would be able to get. What kind of personnel could they bring, that a team would be willing to give up on loan half-way through a campaign?
A short-term fix is understandable, but it really is the one area of the pitch where even with their injuries, United seem relatively well-stocked on the whole. The encouraging signs of Bailly and Tuanzebe closing in on first-team returns means the Red Devils would be well-advised to keep their powder dry and focus their attentions elsewhere. Why not just bring Rojo back from the cold if the club are really desperate for a centre-back to fill Maguire’s shoes?
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The Argentine has played just nine times all season, but in those games he has hardly put a foot wrong, even helping United to keep a clean sheet in each of the four Europa League matches he featured in. Indeed, his average match rating of 7.13 in European competition this year as per Whoscored is certainly an impressive statistic. Whilst Rojo has effectively been side-lined over these past few weeks, Maguire’s injury could give him one last chance to prove his worth. It’s perhaps the perfect time for Solskjaer to bring him back from the cold, and for Ed Woodward to shelve plans for a new central defender.
Meanwhile, Manchester United fans discuss their interest in this Premier League play-maker.
