Marcus Rashford is expected to be sidelined for two to three months, as he recovers from a stress fracture in his back and an underlying ankle injury.
The United talisman missed Sunday's trip to Liverpool after his brief cameo against Wolves during the week was cut short, and it was revealed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before the game that he was to be out for 'weeks' - sparking plenty of concern among United fans.
Things just seemed to go from bad to worse throughout Sunday for the Red Devils, however, as they were hit with a cruel double blow. Liverpool's routine 2-0 victory was peppered with the news that Rashford's injury issues are worse than initially anticipated, with Henry Winter of the Times now saying that he could even be out for the remainder of the season - expecting him to miss a few months of action.
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
It is said that the back injury that looked to have forced him off against Wolves is supplemented by a separate, pre-existing ankle issue he had been playing with. Rashford had started every Premier League match prior to the trip to Anfield and had played 280 minutes of football since the beginning of January, so it can't come as too much a surprise to the club's medical staff that the existing injury has flared up.
He is expected to undergo surgery to nurse his ankle back to health, but it should be April at the very earliest before we see him back on the pitch.
Rashford had been United's most consistent source of goals, with 19 in 31 appearances this season, so it comes as an unimaginably huge blow as they mount a top-four challenge, as well as endeavouring for silverware in three other competitions.
It may yet spur them into transfer action with 11 days remaining of the January transfer window, although that remains to be seen.
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Source : 90min