MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Paul Pogba could miss Manchester United's first game of the English Premier League because of his late start to preseason training after contracting the coronavirus.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Pogba has had only a “couple of training sessions” since recovering from the effects of the virus that ruled the midfielder out of international duty with France.
United is not playing in the opening round of the league this weekend because of the team's late end to last season owing to its involvement in the latter stages of the Europa League. Its first league game is on Sept. 19 at home to Crystal Palace.
“Hopefully, he’ll be ready for next weekend," Solskjaer said on Friday. "I am not 100% sure, though.”
Solskjaer has a ready-made replacement for Pogba in Donny Van de Beek, the midfielder who joined from Ajax last week.
United forward Mason Greenwood, who was sent home by England on Monday for breaching coronavirus rules in Reykjavik after a game against Iceland, could be back training with the full squad next week.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
