Ruben Amorim has confirmed that Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot has suffered an injury which may keep him out for the rest of the season.
Manchester United have experienced major injury issues over the last two years and yet another setback has come for Ruben Amorim towards the end of this season.
Diogo Dalot has been an important player for the head coach since he arrived, playing on both flanks as a wingback but mostly on the right side.
The Portuguese defender has been a consistent player in United’s team during this injury-ridden spell for the club and had almost no time out of the lineup, with 51 appearances so far this term.
He was rested last week against Wolves but came off the bench in the second half but was not spotted during United’s open training session on Wednesday afternoon.
Amorim has now confirmed that the 25-year-old has a calf injury which could keep him out of action for the remainder of the season.
“There is that possibility [Dalot misses the rest of the season] but I don’t know, we will check week by week, because he works really hard, he can recover quite well, so we will see,” Amorim told reporters.
“He has a problem with his muscle in his calf. He had a sequence of games, he played all the time. We tried to manage but some of the players have to play a lot of minutes and we have to protect the ones that we think are not so ready to cope with that, but Dalot felt something.”
United have three Dalot alternatives
United do not have many players who can operate on the flanks in Amorim’s 3-4-3 system and the head coach will need to find the best alternative to Dalot in his absence.
The most obvious choice is Amad, who is closing in on a return from his own injury and is set to be back in team training next week. He has operated in that position for Amorim and showed real promise but might not be back in action until the second-leg against Athletic Club.
Another option for Amorim is to push Noussair Mazraoui back into that position. The Moroccan was playing there when Dalot was operating on the left although definitely seems more comfortable in the back three.
The final option, and perhaps the most likely until Amad returns, is that Amorim uses Patrick Dorgu on that right side, while bringing through Harry Amass to play on the left.
That is exactly what the United boss done against Wolves and they were two of the better performing players during that game, but it is still a big ask to expect Amass to start important games so early in his career.
It could end up being the best solution for Amorim until Amad is ready to play, and then he can move Dorgu back over to the left while reinstating the Ivorian to the lineup.
Dalot’s injury is a blow
Dalot’s injury is a serious blow for the team as they prepare for the semi-finals of the Europa League in the coming weeks.
It seems like, even if the defender recovers well from his injury, he will miss both games against Athletic Club and potentially only be fit for the final if United make it there.
Solutions have to be found but it seemed like a matter of time until Dalot suffered an issue after the amount of football he has played in the last two years.
For him personally, a spell on the sidelines could be good for him as he can come back refreshed but right now, for the team, it is a problem.
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