Yoro and De Ligt notable absentees as Amorim gives update on Manchester United squad fitness
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has provided an update on his squad’s fitness as they prepare for the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao. The Portuguese will likely nurse a headache in coming days as he considers his backline for the crucial fixture.
Amorim addressed the media at Old Trafford in a UEFA press conference on Wednesday, confirming that while some key players are edging closer to fitness, others remain sidelined.
Among the more promising developments, veteran defender Jonny Evans and young midfielder Toby Collyer have returned to full training, while Diogo Dalot was seen doing individual drills. However, Leny Yoro, Ayden Heaven, and Matthijs de Ligt were notably absent from Wednesday’s training session at Carrington. De Ligt went off injured during Manchester United’s 4-3 defeat at Brentford last week.
“I don’t know if they are going to be available,” said Amorim when asked about the absent defenders. “We are going to try to push because it’s the final matches and this is a final, you know that. All the players want to play that really bad.
“I don’t know, I think they will not go to Chelsea [on Friday], but we will have a possibility to have some of them for the final.”
Amorim said that Dalot is “trying really bad” to return to full fitness. However, he doesn’t think it’s wise to rush him, so the defender is certainly ruled out of the Chelsea game.
“I don’t want to risk Dalot because, when you start getting one injury, second injury [follows] and it’s a big thing,” he said. “We cannot have these kinds of problems in our squad. So, we will see, but he’s working really hard to get in the final.”
Dalot has been absent since the 1-0 loss to Wolves at Old Trafford last month. Yoro, who has been hugely important in defence recently, was forced off the field during the Sunday match against West Ham and appeared visibly distressed, so it is unclear if he’ll be fit in time to play in the final.
United face Chelsea on Friday in a match that is increasingly likely to be played majorly by the club’s second string, before they then head over to the San Mames stadium in Bilbao, Spain to face Tottenham.
