MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER Louis van Gaal today revealed England midfielder Michael Carrick will be ruled out due to injury for “a long time”.
Carrick was injured earlier this week and, although van Gaal didn’t reveal the precise nature of the problem, the club later confirmed that the player had undergone surgery on his ankle ligaments and would be out for a minimum of 10 weeks.
Carrick, who was left out of England’s World Cup squad, had appeared likely to be a key part of van Gaal’s plans in the Dutch coach’s first season at Old Trafford.
But the former Netherlands boss will now have to wait longer than he would have liked to use the 32-year-old.
“Michael Carrick was injured a day or two ago so that’s a big blow, because he is an experienced player,” van Gaal told reporters at his first United press conference.
As he stood up to leave the media briefing at Old Trafford, van Gaal responded to a follow-up question by saying Carrick would be out for “a long time, too long”.
Thank goodness for Twitter, eh.