Ralf Rangnick says Paul Pogba's thigh injury could keep Man Utd midfielder out until New Year
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Updated 10/12/2021 at 15:54 GMT
Pogba has been absent since the beginning of November with a thigh issue, and has spent the last month in Dubai recuperating. The new interim Manchester United manager has now spoken to the Frenchman, who remains a "couple of weeks" away from a return to training. Rangnick hopes to have midweek captain Nemanja Matic available for the fixture against Norwich despite a cold.
Rangnick: "Pogba won't be back in training for more than 2 weeks"
Ralf Rangnick has revealed that Paul Pogba could be out until the New Year due to his thigh injury.
The French midfielder has been in Dubai for the last month recuperating, having been absent for Manchester United since the start of November.
The new interim manager at Old Trafford has now spoken to Pogba, with Rangnick confirming that he is due back in the country imminently.
However the German confirmed that Pogba remains some way away from a return to contention for his matchday squad as Rangnick begins his tenure without the influential midfielder.
"We spoke over the phone two days ago or on Tuesday," Rangnick said ahead of Manchester United's meeting with Norwich. "He was still in Dubai, he’s expected to come back today and we will get to know each other in person on Sunday.
"We had a telephone call for around 10 or 15 minutes and he told me he was getting better. Obviously, he still isn’t fully fit and from what I’ve heard it will take another couple of weeks until he’s fit for training again.
"He has been out for quite some time so it will take another couple of weeks to get him match fit."
Nemanja Matic was handed the captaincy for Manchester United's midweek draw against Young Boys, and Rangnick hopes that the Serbian will be available despite a cold, having tested negative for Covid-19.
Manchester United have made an unbeaten start under Rangnick, though failed to fully convince in a narrow win over Crystal Palace and were much-changed for the Champions League dead rubber.
Rangnick believes that his side will be tested against Norwich, "improved" under their own new manager Dean Smith, though he was impressed by how his side took to his tactics in the win at Old Trafford last time out in the league.
"They have improved since the change of managers," Rangnick said of the Canaries. "They play a little bit more direct, a little bit more vertical than they did with Daniel Farke.
"It will be a challenge to play at Carrow Road but we want to improve our performance, we want to build on what we showed against Crystal Palace.
"[The players] did well in that game. Not everything was perfect, but quite a few things worked out well. We were always on the front foot, we had control of the game. Now it's about taking the next steps. What we showed against Crystal Palace was good. We didn't allow them to score or give them too many opportunities."
Norwich are awaiting the results of PCR testing on "a couple of players", with Smith fearing that his side may be shorn of resources with members of his squad feeling "unwell".
Smith's side were beaten by Tottenham last time out, who have since been dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak, though the Norwich manager does not believe the potential positives at the club are linked to that fixture.
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