Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful that Paul Pogba will be involved in Manchester United’s Premier League opener against Crystal Palace next week though he remains a doubt for the game.
The Frenchman has only just returned to training after testing positive for coronavirus, forcing him to withdraw from France’s UEFA Nations League matches earlier this month.
With United having returned to training later than many sides due to their participation in the latter stages of the Europa League, and with Pogba quarantining for two weeks, he has had precious little time to get back up to full match fitness.
United’s European exertions mean their start to the season against Crystal Palace was pushed back until September 19, though even with the extra time it will still be touch and go to see if Pogba can play.
‘Paul’s had a couple of training sessions so he’s lost out on a few sessions because of the virus, of course,’ revealed Solskjaer to MUTV on Friday.
‘But Paul is quick to get fit. Of course, he worked really hard to get back after lockdown last time and played the majority of the games.
‘Hopefully, he’ll be ready for next weekend. I am not 100 per cent sure though.’
Solskjaer continued: ‘For me, Luke is looking really good in training. He has come back, looking strong, and will play in the friendly against Villa.
‘Then Axel [Tuanzebe] is getting closer as well. In a few weeks’ time, I guess he will be with us training full-time and hopefully we’ll be able to give him games quickly.’
He added: ‘It’s going to be a game to give players minutes. Some have trained more than others and some will be more ready than others. Some played international games, which actually sometimes you think you don’t really want that but some of them have got valuable minutes there.
‘We’ll give the others minutes against Villa so they can all start on a decent level because it’s going to be a long season.’
