Manchester United are poised to receive a much-needed injury boost just as the season reaches its critical phase.
According to Manchester Evening News, United hope to welcome back Amad Diallo and Matthijs de Ligt this week.
The Red Devils are hopeful that Sunday’s clash against Brentford will serve as the perfect opportunity to ease the duo back into match fitness.
Diallo suffered an unfortunate ankle injury during training in early February, halting his momentum at the worst possible time.
His absence proved costly, with the Ivorian having been in electric form and arguably United’s most reliable attacking outlet under manager Ruben Amorim.
De Ligt has been sidelined by a foot injury that has kept him out for the last seven matches.
The Red Devils will travel to Spain on Thursday to face Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semi-final first leg before they turn their focus to Brentford over the weekend.
Amorim is expected to shuffle his pack for the trip to west London, giving his key players a breather ahead of the second-leg showdown on 8 May.
The Portuguese tactician would ideally love to see both Diallo and De Ligt get valuable minutes against the Bees to sharpen their match readiness.
With their Premier League campaign all but dead in the water, United have little left to fight for domestically.
The Europa League now stands as their golden ticket to end a disastrous season with silverware and a coveted spot in next season’s Champions League.
In particular, Diallo’s return is a huge boost with Joshua Zirkzee ruled out for the rest of the season.
Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund are the only two forwards available to Amorim.
If Diallo proves match-fit, Amorim could unleash him in the right-sided number 10 role to inject some much-needed pace and creativity into United’s toothless attack.
