RECORD BREAKER?
Stoke City manager and former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes expected Romelu Lukaku to be a threat to Wayne Rooney’s all-time Manchester United record. The £75m man already has 5 goals in 5 games this season and is in the form of his life. Hughes said: “Romelu’s in a top team and has outstanding players around him who will create more chances for him than in the past. Logically, you’d say he’ll go close if he gets a good run and steers clear of major injuries.” Sparky himself scored 163 goals during his time at Old Trafford.
HE IS COMING
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s latest Instagram post has sent United fans into a tizzy. Once again. This video shows him running on the treadmill with the caption: “I’m coming.” He is inching ever closer to his return and follows previous updates which included him kicking a ball again for the first time and walking in water to improve the strength of his injured knee. There is still no change in his expected return with dates from late October to early January still being mentioned.
WE REMAIN IN CONTROL
Jose Mourinho insisted that United remain in control over the contract situation of their players despite vital cogs of the first team like Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini and Luke Shaw all in their final year of the contract. But the clubs have the option of triggering a year’s extension. Mourinho said: “The only player, two players are Zlatan and Carrick. Two players at the end of the season who are going to sit, analyze what they did and what they want to do. All the other players are under the club control until end of the 2018-19 season.”
EARLY TEAM NEWS FOR BASEL
Manchester United finally make their Champions League comeback later this week and with Eric Bailly and Phil Jones set to serve their suspensions. The pairing which started all of United’s Premier League games will be replaced by Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof confirmed Jose Mourinho. Whether Fellaini features is still up in the air after the Belgian picked up a minor calf injury during his time away with the International squad.
FELLANI OMMISION EXPAINED
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho revealed that Fellaini missed out on the Stoke trip due a minor calf injury he picked up during his time with Belgium. Fellaini who was a feature in all of United’s Premier League matchday squads was left behind so as to not aggravate the potentially troublesome injury. Mourinho did not reveal an expected comeback date for Marouane but it can be safe to say he will miss the encounter against Basel.