Man Utd hit with £131m injury catastrophe ahead of Fulham, Man City and Liverpool fixtures

Manchester United will be without marquee new defensive signing Leny Yoro for the Premier League opening fixture against Fulham on Friday, August 16 at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils splurged £58.9 million on the 18-year-old defender this summer, bringing him to the club on a five-year deal from Lille. However, Erik ten Hag will have to navigate the opening months of the season without the teenage wonderkid.

Yoro limped off in the 35th minute of a pre-season friendly against Arsenal last weekend having received lengthy treatment. The player was then seen needing crutches to move around and wearing a protective boot on his left foot.

It has now been confirmed that the foot injury will keep Yoro out of action for around three months, meaning he will miss the start of the Premier League campaign and the visit of the Cottagers. The defender will also be unavailable for the Community Shield meeting with Manchester City and key early league meetings against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.

In a suckerpunch of injury news, Manchester United have also confirmed that talisman Rasmus Hojlund will miss the start of the season due to an injury picked up in the friendly against the Gunners. The 21-year-old was substituted in the 16th minute but it had been hoped that his injury would be minor.

However, Hojlund has pulled his hamstring and will miss first team action for six weeks. That rules the striker, who cost the Red Devils £72 million last summer, out for the Community Shield and the visit of Fulham - facing a race against time to be fit for the visit of Liverpool on September 1.

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Marco Silva's side have been handed a tough fixture to kickstart the Premier League season but head to Old Trafford with happy memories from their visit to the Theatre of Dreams during the 2023/24 campaign. The London outfit ran out 2-1 victors in February thanks to a 97th minute Alex Iwobi winner.

Speaking about that memorable goal after the match, the Fulham midfielder said: “I'm over the moon right now to come back into the team and get a win at Old Trafford, a big stadium like this, there is no better feeling.”