Harry Maguire won’t play in the Premier League again this season: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Manchester United manager said they will do everything possible to get the defender ready for the Europa League final on May 26.

Harry Maguire leaving the pitch at Aston Villa; Credit: Harry Maguire Twitter
By Karthik Raman | May 13, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not believe that Harry Maguire will play in the Premier League again this season. The club skipper injured his ankle in the weekend win at Aston Villa. As a result, Eric Bailly came on for Maguire at Villa Park and he started again on Tuesday against the Foxes at Old Trafford. Now the manager is focused on getting the defender fit on time to face Villarreal in the Europa League final on 26th May.

“The good news was it wasn’t broken. There was no fracture, but a ligament injury of course is serious as well,” Solskjaer said ahead of their match against Liverpool. “If I’m very positive – that’s maybe stretching it – I’m hopeful that he might be ready for it. I don’t think he’ll play in the league again before [the end of the season]. We’ll do everything we can to get him ready for the final.”

“You always try to look after players long-term. If he’s fit, he’ll play for us, if he’s not he won’t. As I said, we’re hopeful that he’s ready. If he’s ready for us, he’ll probably be ready for the Euros. Norway are not in the Euros, so I’m not really that concerned [about the Euros].”

On Cavani

Ole also opened up about what Edinson Cavani can bring to the team for the remainder of this season as well as the next. The Uruguayan has recently extended his contract and Manchester United will need him to keep firing to produce a sustainable title challenge next campaign. “Well, I think we’ve seen the last few months what we can expect and what we’ve wanted from him. Next season, he’ll come ready. He’ll be fit when he comes pre-season,” he added.

“This year, he had seven months of no football to catch up and that’s not easy – he’s had a couple of niggles because of that. Just the same: professionality. He comes in every day, he does everything right. The boys will look at him. He gives us a no.9 position. I don’t know how many games we’ll get out of him but, of course, he’s one of the best no.9s in the world at the moment.”