Manchester United’s Ashley Young to get surgery
Young will require surgery to repair his injured groin
Manchester United have been dealt another injury blow as Ashley Young will undergo surgery on his groin and could miss the remainder of the season.
The English international has arguably been Manchester United’s most reliable full-back this season despite his natural position being on the wing. Now, however, he will join Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, and Antonio Valencia to bring the total to four injured outside defenders. Shaw broke his leg against PSV and will miss the entire season, Rojo dislocated his shoulder in December and should return soon, and Valencia suffered a foot injury in October that has kept him out since.
In the pre-match press conference ahead of the Southampton clash, Louis van Gaal offered his reaction to the dreadful news:
"“Ashley Young has a severe groin injury, it shall be operated on, so he’s [out] for a long time. It’s unbelievable, but we’re not lucky with that. Jones and Schweinsteiger cannot come back this weekend. You can count it and we have seven injuries.”"
Once Jones and Rojo return, Daley Blind could move out to the left side of the defense. Unfortunately, it’s unclear how long the two injured defenders will remain sidelined. Waiting for them to return to full health is a serious gamble, especially considering Jones’ injury history. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela have been given multiple opportunities with the first team and have performed well despite their young age. But the academy products are still in development and thus unable to play at a high enough level for the entire season.
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On Borthwick-Jackson and his performances thus far, the Dutchman shared his opinion on the defender’s viability as a like-for-like replacement for Young:
"“He’s more or less a very good player for his age. He has shown already that he can cope with the pressure but, with youth players, the question is always: are they consistent? One match or a substitution is always good, but consistency is always the question mark.”"
It therefore seems a definite for Manchester United to sign a full-back before the January transfer window closes despite the manager’s firm stance against mid-season signings. With only the two youngsters and Matteo Darmian left as true full-backs, and Blind available as a makeshift replacement, the team is in desperate need of defensive depth for the Premier League season, Europa League, and FA Cup.
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The manager confirmed that assumption in the presser, but warned that it will be a difficult task:
"“I think when you see our bad luck with all my fulbacks – Valencia, Shaw, Rojo, Darmian, Young sometimes – they are all injured. And only Darmian is now back.”“That’s why we have to loom always, especially in this window for replacements. The problem is that we asked for a level and the clubs don’t want to sell in this period. So we are looking but it’s not so easy. Everyone thinks it’s easy but it’s not so.”"
It will be troublesome finding a suitable full-back ready to step in at the Premier League level for potentially the rest of the season. Supporters on Twitter have already suggested signing Nemanja Vidic, recently released by Inter Milan and now available as a free agent. That would then free up Blind to play on the flank, but Vidic has already begun his decline before retirement and the solution isn’t much of one at all.
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Given Ed Woodward’s transfer ineptitude in the past when the deadline is near, it’s not unlikely that Manchester United fail to make a signing before the window closes. If that happens, their luck will need to change with regard to injuries or it could be another lost season.