Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia could make return in February
Injured Manchester United winger Luis Antonio Valencia could make his return as soon as February, the club’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson said today.
The 25-year-old picked up the injury in the opening UEFA Champions League group stage clash with Scottish Premier League champions Rangers on Tuesday. Full-back Kirk Broadfoot slid in for a challenge on the Ecuador international and, while he won the ball
cleanly, Valencia had his foot trapped between the Scot and the pitch.
Valencia had to be carried off the field on a stretcher and it was later revealed that his ankle was fractured and required surgery. It had been feared that the player would miss the rest of the season, but Ferguson told reporters today that the prognosis
had improved greatly.
'News better than first thought'
He said that: "You can never be 100% and it is a bad injury but we are looking at the end of February, which is better than we thought on Tuesday."
Meanwhile, the Red Devils boss revealed his hope that the rest of the squad would be able to make up for the loss of pace and accurate crosses Valencia brought to the team while he is on the sidelines.
He said that: “You always fear when you have a good player out of your team it is going to be a loss. But having players like Nani, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung, plus Gabriel Obertan and Bebe means we have options. Antonio had a great season last year. He
was a great signing for us. He is a young player who has been improving all the time. It is a blow losing good players but in the context of the kind of squad we have, we should be able to cope with it."
Tags: