Jose Mourinho has revealed Alexis Sanchez is set to be sidelined for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Sanchez, who has endured a difficult time at United since his switch from Arsenal last January, suffered the injury in training yesterday and is set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
Mourinho described Sanchez’s torn hamstring as an “aggressive” injury and said: “No scans yet. But the player is experienced, the player knows what the injury is and also, from the top of my experience, just the painful scream and the way the injury happened, I know it’s going to be for a long time.
“It’s not the little muscular injury that in one week or 10 days the player is ready. For me and also for Alexis, the feelings before the scans is that the grade is different than the Victor Lindelof injury, and the Lindelof one was not an easy one.
“So Alexis has what I used to call an aggressive muscular injury.”
United travel to Southampton tomorrow, for the first of seven Premier League games in December, with Mourinho’s side – currently seventh – bidding to claw their way back into contention for the top-four.
Mourinho said: “We need points We want to improve our position in the table, we want to close the gap to the top four, we want to be smelling these positions, if not there behind, then just smelling for the second part of the season.
“But everybody for different reasons need points, so it’s not like we go to Southampton and they don’t need points. It’s not just one team for high level of motivation.
“So we’re going to have a very difficult match against a team that I know are not going to have any problems, the team, the squad is good, the club has been very well organised for many many years, so they are not going to stay in that part of a table for a long time, so a difficult match for us.”