Jose Mourinho could name an 18-year-old in his Manchester United matchday squad for tomorrow’s derby due to an injury doubt over Paul Pogba, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Pogba missed training on Friday, suggesting he may not be fit for Sunday’s Manchester derby. The French international missed the first derby of last season due to suspension but scored a brace in our come-from-behind 3-2 victory at the Etihad in April.
The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday night as we beat Juventus 2-1 in the Champions League and didn’t show any obvious signs that he was carrying an injury.
Whether Paul Pogba was just being rested after a busy fixture list or has an injury, has not yet been clarified. Jose Mourinho did confirm in Friday’s press conference that no new injuries had been picked up from the Juventus game.
However, the Manchester Evening News are reporting that 18-year-old Aidan Barlow attended first-team training on Friday as a precautionary measure should Pogba not be fit for the weekend.
Barlow scored a penalty for our under-19s in the UEFA Youth League match against Juventus on Wednesday.
The report suggests the teenager could yet make the matchday squad for our trip to the Etihad tomorrow should Pogba not be fit. Though Barlow would certainly not be expected to start as we have Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini and Scott McTominay all available to fill in the three central midfield spots in Jose’s formation.
As well as Pogba, Romelu Lukaku is also a doubt for the derby, having missed our last two matches against Bournemouth and Juventus with a hamstring injury picked up in training last Friday.
We start the weekend in seventh spot, nine points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
