Injured Manchester United defender Harry Maguire reveals he hasn’t yet returned to training

Harry Maguire admits he has still not returned to training with Manchester United as defender continues recovery from a calf injury suffered against Aston Villa last month… but declares he will be ‘back on the pitch soon’

  • Harry Maguire has missed Manchester United’s last two games in all comps
  • But despite resuming light training he is still not back with team-mates
  • News means United will highly likely be without either first choice defenders
  • Raphael Varane is also out ahead of clash against Leicester City on Saturday 


Manchester United‘s defensive crisis shows little sign of easing after captain Harry Maguire admitted he has still not returned to training following a calf injury.

The centre-back picked up the problem in the 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa last month, leading to him not being selected in the England squad having also been forced to miss United’s games against Everton and Villarreal in the Premier League and Champions League respectively.

Since then the 28-year-old has been under rehabilitation at United’s training ground in Carrington.

Harry Maguire admits he has still yet to return to full training with Manchester United

Maguire is still recovering from an ankle injury picked up in the defeat by Aston Villa last month

Maguire is still recovering from an ankle injury picked up in the defeat by Aston Villa last month

It’s understood that Maguire did some light training at Carrington on Monday after missing the last two games, but did not take part in the main session. 

Reflecting on his injury, Maguire revealed that while he was in the recovery phase, he was still not back training with team-mates.

‘Yeah it’s getting there,’ Maguire told Manchester United’s website.

‘I still haven’t trained yet with the squad, but I am getting better, I am progressing as I should be. It is obviously a frustrating injury for me to get, but I am progressing and I will be back on the pitch soon.’

Maguire’s absence has been a big miss for United, with the defender having played a full 90 minutes in the first five games of the Premier League season which saw the Red Devils win four of them.

Centre-back partner Raphael Varane suffered a groin injury in France's Nations League final win on Sunday against Spain

Centre-back partner Raphael Varane suffered a groin injury in France’s Nations League final win on Sunday against Spain

But the timing of the injury is a significant blow for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who is also without his other first choice centre-back Raphael Varane.

Varane will miss a crucial run of fixtures for Manchester United after the club confirmed he will be out of action for ‘a few weeks’ with a groin muscle injury.

Varane had scans on Tuesday after limping out of France’s victory over Spain in the Nations League final at the weekend. 

United released a statement saying: ‘Raphael Varane sustained a groin muscle injury in the UEFA Nations League final and has commenced rehabilitation at the club. He will be out for a few weeks.’

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (centre) is likely to play Eric Bailly (right) alongside Victor Lindelof (left), with Maguire likely to miss the fixture with Leicester City on Saturday

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (centre) is likely to play Eric Bailly (right) alongside Victor Lindelof (left), with Maguire likely to miss the fixture with Leicester City on Saturday

It means that United’s new £43million signing could miss a series of fixtures in the space of three weeks that includes Premier League games against Leicester, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City, as well as a Champions League double header with Atalanta.

Varane spent the second half of France’s match sat on the bench with an ice pack strapped to his right thigh, and flew back from Milan after the game on a private jet with his United team-mate Paul Pogba.

With Maguire likely to be ruled out this weekend against the Foxes, Solskjaer is likely to play Eric Bailly alongside Victor Lindelof.

Fit-again Phil Jones is another option but he has not started a league game for 22 months.

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