Manchester United’s Sofyan Amrabat Sidelined as Injury Woes Mount

Injured during the Moroccan national team’s training session before the matches against Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, Sofyan Amrabat had left the Atlas Lions in early September. Apparently, he has not recovered from his injury. Proof of this, he was unable to participate in the friendly match between the national team and the Elephants (1-1) and in the Morocco-Liberia (3-0) match counting for the last round of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN 2023) qualifiers. "We won’t hide behind the absences, because we were aware of Amrabat’s absence before the start of the training camp. [...] Amrabat can get injured at one time or another. We have to find a solution and an alternative, and we have players capable of filling the void left by Sofyan," Walid Regragui, the Moroccan coach, said over the weekend.

Before officially joining Manchester United on loan from ACF Fiorentina until 2024 for a fee of 10 million with a purchase option, the 27-year-old player had undergone his medical in Italy, during which the staff detected a back problem, reports The Athletic. A problem for which he had received pain-relieving injections in December during Morocco’s qualification for the 2022 Qatar World Cup quarter-finals. The back pain was not considered serious enough to block his transfer to the UK. But the Moroccan midfielder’s health problem persists. He has made five appearances with United this season, mostly in the left-back position, an unusual position for him.

His health problem is seriously hampering Manchester United, which is already without Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Amad Diallo, Lisandro Martinez and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, long-term absent