| Matt Hughes (mail sport) revealed yesterday that Rasmus Hojlund is suffering from a back injury. An MRI scan conducted as part of his medical revealed a stress response hotspot in his back, which can be the start of stress fractures in young players. Some sources at United are indicating that the issue is more serious than the club disclosed.
➕ | Stress response hotspots are often suffered by athletes who have had a high workload at a young age, which is the case of Hojlund. Marcus Rashford missed several months of the 2019/20 season due to a double stress fracture in his back, Hughes recounts. He does report that are adamant that, following intensive investigations during Hojlund’s medical, there is no fundamental issue with his back and that all he requires is a period of rest.
| It is unlikely that Hojlund will be able to play two matches every week for some time for fear of developing into a stress fracture, which would lead to a lengthy lay-off, Hughes says. Meanwhile, Laurie Whitwell (@theathleticfc) suggests United are targeting the game away to Arsenal on September 3 as a potential debut date for Hojlund. He has already been out on the grass in training at Carrington.
| This is a worry, and frustrating, no doubt. But you have to have faith that the club have been thorough and would not have sanctioned a move if there were to be long-term troubles. It has already been shown with Rashford that rest is a suitable recipe and that this issue can be overcome, and it isn’t as though it is an uncommon problem that there is a lack of knowledge of. It’s annoying that United will yet again start the season without an established striker after once again struggling for goals across pre-season with Anthony Martial still injured. Instead there will be more reliance on Marcus Rashford, who is stronger out on the left, and impetus placed on Jadon Sancho to feature in the false-nine role, where he still lacks much experience. #mufc #manutd