Man Utd Cannot Recall Chris Smalling to Ease Injury Crisis - But Harry Maguire Could Recover Quickly

Manchester United will have to find a way through their current defensive injury crisis that doesn’t involve Chris Smalling as the club does not have the option of recalling the England centre-back, who has been impressing in Serie A, from his loan at Roma.


Smalling joined Roma for the duration of the 2019/20 campaign in August when it became clear that he would be a fringe player at United following the £80m arrival of Harry Maguire.

Chris Smalling,Gervinho

It proved to be the move the 30-year-old needed to reignite his career and he has been widely praised for the way he has taken to Italian football.

But with his parent club now struggling to put a defence together as a result of injuries to Maguire, Axel Tuanzebe, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo – even Phil Jones looked to be struggling with cramp in his last appearance – Smalling would have been in line to play an important role.

However, the Daily Mirror notes that there is no option in Smalling’s loan agreement with Roma to recall him to Old Trafford any earlier than the end of the season.

Assuming Jones has no lingering problems from that cramp, he will partner Victor Lindelof against Norwich in the Premier League on Saturday. Otherwise, it may be that Nemanja Matic is asked to fill in as an emergency centre-back, which will have a knock-on effect in midfield.

Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Jones

Jones was given the run around by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup earlier this week and has only made one Premier League appearance so far this season, such has been his lowly status in the defensive pecking order. That was against Sheffield United in November and ended after just 45 minutes when he substituted at half-time following a disastrous performance.

United have been tipped to consider an emergency loan signing to cover for Maguire’s absence. The former Leicester man is nursing a hip injury and it was reported earlier this week that he has suffered a muscle tear and could be sidelined for two months.

However, there may be a reprieve for United as the latest on the subject is that it is nothing like as bad as suspected. The Daily Mail writes that the tear is only a small one and puts Maguire’s expected recovery back down to ‘a matter of days rather than weeks’.

Harry Maguire

They also revealed that he was able to train on grass on Thursday and hasn’t even ruled out a return to action against Norwich, although it is still not considered likely.


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Source : 90min