Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Harry Maguire will almost certainly not be fit enough to face Villareal in the Europa League final.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of United’s final Premier League game of the season against Wolves at Molyneux, the boss confirmed the bad news.
‘I’m going to give him until Tuesday night and the last training session, to see if he can be out there — steadily he is improving but we’re going to give him time to heal.
‘He’s walking but it’s a long way from walking to running so, to be honest, I don’t think we’ll see him in Gdansk, no,’ Solskjaer said.
The news will come as a bitter blow for the United skipper, who had been ever-present in nearly two seasons of League football since joining the Red Devils from Leicester City.
There was better news in terms of one of United’s other walking wounded, Dan James, but Solskjaer also seemed pessimistic about Anthony Martial‘s chances of making it to Gdansk.
‘Dan will be involved [against Wolves],’ he confirmed.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t think Anthony will make this one for the squad so Harry and Anthony are still working hard to be available for the final.’
One player who might play some part in the final is Juan Mata, whose contract is up at the end of the season.
Solskjaer confirmed that the decision was yet to be made as to whether Mata’s contract would be renewed, meaning that if he does feature, it could be his last match for the Reds.
‘We’ve had good dialogue with Juan and that dialogue will continue at the end of the season.
‘He’s a good professional and it’s been hard for me not to play him.
‘That decision will be made when the season finishes.’
