Ange Postecoglou has delivered the latest on Dejan Kulusevski as Manchester United gear up to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.
Manchester United are only ten days away from their Europa League final match against Premier League rivals Tottenham. This will be the first all-English Europa League final since Chelsea beat Arsenal in 2019.
This is the second time that United have reached the Europa League final in the last ten years. 2017 saw Jose Mourinho’s United beat an Ajax side managed by former United manager Erik Ten Hag and the side featured current United players Andre Onana and Matthijs de Ligt.
United’s most recent Europa League final came under Ole Gunnar Solskjear against Villarreal. United lost dramatically 11-10 on penalties after goalkeeper David De Gea failed to convert his. This time Ruben Amorim will take charge in his first cup final with the club.
Amorim may have to shift his tactical plans for the final as it now seems Tottenham will be without one of their star players.
Tottenham delivered Kulusevski blow
Dejan Kulusevski only made it 19 minutes into Tottenham’s 2-0 loss against Crystal Palace before being forced off. Kulusevski went down initially in the 16th minute and attempted to play on, but Ange Postecoglou decided to remove him three minutes later.
The winger, who has been instrumental for Tottenham, walked straight down the tunnel with a member of staff rather than returning to the bench, suggesting that Spurs had a concern with the player.
Having to go down the tunnel for treatment so early in a game does not look promising for the Swedish international’s chances of playing in the cup final.
The Swede has been instrumental for Tottenham this season, registering 10 goals and 11 assists across his 50 appearances.
Postecoglou delivers Kulusevski injury update
However, after the result, the Australian manager seemed relatively confident that Kulusevski will be okay and make it to Bilbao as United and Spurs fight out for the trophy.
“Medical team are not too concerned with him, more of a knock than anything else, so we’re hoping he should be OK,” Postecoglou said.
“It’s not helpful when you lose another player, it’s the fine line we’re trying to navigate at the moment. That aside, it was a disappointing performance and nowhere near the level it should be.
“Guys had an opportunity today to put their name forward and put some pressure on the guys who played the other night. Fair to say there wasn’t any compelling evidence of that.
“That’s what I’m trying to push with these guys, that sometimes in football you’ve just got to take the opportunities there before you. They’re never going to be perfect.
“We made eight changes, but there is an opportunity there, and you’ve just got to take it when presented to you, and I’m disappointed more didn’t step forward today.”
In other news, James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall and Radu Dragusin all look certain to be unavailable for Tottenham ahead of the final, with United certain to miss Joshua Zirkzee and Lisandro Martínez, while Diogo Dalot, Leny Yoro, and Matthijs de Ligt are being assessed.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.