Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford suffered a severe back injury that will keep him sidelined long-term.
Manchester United’s loss to Liverpool was not the worst thing to happen to them on Sunday as the club learned that Marcus Rashford is suffering from a stress fracture in his back. The injury is set to rule him out for at least two months.
Rashford apparently had been carrying the injury for a while now and aggravated it in their match against Wolverhampton.
According to The Guardian, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said,
"“Marcus suffered a stress fracture against Wolverhampton. I don’t know how long he will be out. We will give him enough time to heal. It’s normally six weeks before you get going slightly, probably, and then he will need time to get match-fit again.”"
While Solskjaer denied that the back injury was something Rashford was carrying, there are reports to the contrary.
Rashford was carrying a single stress fracture in his back, now has a double stress fracture after Wolves game. Expected to be out for 2-3 months. Also has piece of floating bone in his ankle requiring non-intrusive surgery to remove. Been playing thru immense pain to help #mufc
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) January 19, 2020
Henry Winter’s description contradicts what the United manager said and it shows the extent of the injury that Rashford was playing through.
If what Winter reported is true, then it reflects badly on Solskjaer.
Why play Rashford who is already dealing with an injury in his back and only makes things worse? Why risk further injury playing him in FA Cup match?
United were short on depth in the striker position and now lose their best option up top for the foreseeable future.
To make things worse, Solskjaer couldn’t get rid of Romelu Lukaku fast enough and he’s having a resurgence in Italy with Inter Milan.
Manchester United now need to go out in the transfer market and find a replacement as they look to finish in the top four in order to play in the Champions League next season. They won’t be the only ones looking for a striker either with Harry Kane injured for Spurs and Barcelona contemplating on whether to find someone to fill in for the injured Luis Suarez.
According to ESPN, Solskjaer said that the club could look to buy a replacement but time is running out quick.
As for Rashford, he faces a long road back and his participation with England for the Euros in the summer is in serious doubt.