Amad Diallo: Man Utd forward could miss rest of season with ankle injury
2025-02-16
Category: sports

Manchester United forward Amad Diallo is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with ankle ligament damage.The 22-year-old Ivory Coast international posted a message on his Instagram account, external on Saturday to confirm the injury.United are still assessing the full extent of the issue, but Diallo will be out for a number of weeks and may not return this season."Extremely disappointed to be writing this message in such a crucial time of the season," Diallo said in his post."Unfortunately, I will be out for some time with an injury. I will come back stronger than ever!! Time to support the boys from the outside. Still loads to play for."Diallo's form has been one of the few bright points during a difficult season for United, with the winger scoring six goals in his past 14 games.In addition, England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 19, has also sustained an injury and will miss Sunday's Premier League fixture at Tottenham."It was a good week until two days ago when we had some problems," United boss Ruben Amorim said at a news conference on Friday.United are 13th in the Premier League before the match at Spurs, who are two points behind them.
Are there more injuries than normal?
A number of Premier League clubs currently have lengthy injury lists.In addition to Diallo and Mainoo, United are without Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Altay Bayindir and Jonny Evans while Manuel Ugarte is also doubtful for the trip to Spurs.Tottenham have Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven, Dominic Solanke, Richarlison and Cristian Romero out, with several other players facing fitness tests.Arsenal were without Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Martinelli for their 2-0 win over Leicester on Saturday.It would appear on the face of it this has been a particularly gruelling season on the injury front, but do the numbers back it up?Ben Dinnery, founder of Premier Injuries who are a data source for player injuries in the English top flight, said there has actually been a reduction in injuries this season compared to the previous campaign."The narrative is that injuries are going through the roof this season, but they are actually not," Dinnery told BBC Sport's Football News Show."In terms of time loss absence we've actually seen a reduction season on season over the same period compared to 2023-24 by roughly 13%."However, Dinnery says there has been an increase in muscle injuries such as hamstring strains."It's the type of injuries [getting more severe] and the length of return to play that is taking a little bit longer," said Dinnery."When we took the 2023-24 season in isolation, looking at the previous four on average, we've seen an increase in hamstring injuries, certainly at the severe end, by about 65%."By severe we mean hamstring injuries that are likely to keep a player out for more than 30 days. That isn't an outliner, numbers this season are continuing on that trajectory."