Significant setbacks to Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund have cast a cloud over the 2024-25 season before it's even begun
When Manchester United announced that Erik ten Hag would be staying in charge despite overseeing their worst ever Premier League campaign – and despite the club speaking to multiple alternatives – they promised that things would be different from now on.
While holding a thorough review into the season, the club’s hierarchy noted “significant mitigations for last season’s under-performance in the Premier League and Champions League”, namely “having the most injuries in the Premier League and concentrated in key positions”. Barring a repeat of last year’s exceptionally bad run of injuries, so went the logic, United would be much stronger.
So it is most inconvenient that two weeks before United begin the new season against Fulham, they are in the midst of yet another injury crisis, affecting key players in crucial positions. The club’s biggest signing of the summer, Leny Yoro, is out for three months with an ankle injury sustained in the pre-season friendly against Arsenal, while Rasmus Hojlund will miss the next six weeks after straining his hamstring against the Gunners. The next friendly against Real Betis brought more injury woes, with Marcus Rashford and Antony limping off.
Who will be next to succumb to the club’s pre-season curse when they round off their tour against Liverpool? And who is to say there will not be more walking wounded when the season gets underway?
Getty ImagesNew season, same problems
The problems afflicting United in pre-season are eerily similar to the misfortune they suffered ahead of the last campaign. Kobbie Mainoo suffered a serious ankle injury after a freak collision in the pre-season friendly with Real Madrid in Texas, while Amad Diallo damaged his knee against Arsenal in New Jersey.
Mainoo did not recover until late November while Amad did not make his first appearance until the end of December. New striker Hojlund, who had signed for £72m ($92m), meanwhile, arrived with a back injury and was unavailable until the third game of the season, meaning Rashford had to start the campaign as a centre-forward.
That was just the beginning of United’s injury troubles though, as they would go on to sustain 66 injuries throughout the season, having a huge knock-on effect as the team slumped to their lowest finish in the Premier League era and exited the Champions League at the first hurdle.
AdvertisementGettyNightmare for Yoro
The latest spate of injuries feel much more damaging, though. While Mainoo and Amad had barely featured for the first team at the time, Yoro has just become one of United’s most expensive defenders.
The club pulled off a real coup by beating Real Madrid to his signature and he looked like a transformative signing who, together with Lisandro Martinez, could finally make United a team comfortable at building out from the back. His injury means, at least for now, that all that hard work was for nothing, as the French youngster will not be able to make his Premier League debut until early November.
And there is now extra pressure on Martinez, who missed the majority of last season with a foot and then a knee injury, to stay fit. Already it feels like 36-year-old Jonny Evans, who was leaned on far too much last season, is going to be heavily relied upon again.
Getty ImagesHojlund's woes
The injury to Hojlund is perhaps even more concerning. The Dane had barely any pre-season training due to his participation at Euro 2024 and was thrown straight in against Arsenal in Los Angeles. He got off to a fine start by scoring the opener but after one sprint had to come off. It is the fourth injury he has suffered in one year with United, and came at a terrible time as he needed to hit the ground running in his second season, having only shown glimpses of his quality in his debut campaign.
Instead, he will not feature until after the first international break. His absence means Joshua Zirkzee is likely to begin the season at centre-forward. Zirkzee had an excellent campaign with Bologna although he has not hidden the fact he prefers playing with a strike partner and dovetailing with his fellow attackers.
He won’t be able to work up a relationship with Hojlund for some time and he might also be unable to play with Rashford. The knock to Rashford, who was seen limping out of the Snapdragon Stadium, was also frustrating as the striker, who has a point to prove after a miserable last season, had looked in fine fettle against Betis.
(C)Getty ImagesWorrying pattern
Antony’s knock will concern supporters less as he contributes very little even when he is at his sharpest. But the Brazilian’s injury confirms the fear that last season’s problems might not have been a freak occurrence and instead a pattern that is likely to be repeated. United hired Arsenal's long-serving doctor Gary O'Driscoll last summer and physio Jordan Reece has joined him in switching from north London to Old Trafford.
O'Driscoll oversaw a review into United's injury issues in the hope of seeing a reduction but the early evidence suggests there has been little improvement. Ten Hag blasted players for not being fit enough after the defeat in the first friendly against Rosenborg and the problem has persisted.
The manager probably needs to shoulder some of the blame too. He rotated his squad very little last season and it is felt that he brought some players back from injury too early, leading to them breaking down again soon after.