Man Utd get Leny Yoro and Diogo Dalot hope as injury expert reveals Europa League final chances

Manchester United will be optimistic Leny Yoro has avoided a serious injury that could rule him out of next week’s Europa League final against Tottenham.

The 19-year-old has grown into an increasingly influential presence in Ruben Amorim’s backline, excelling in their European run which culminates in next week’s showdown in Bilbao against their Premier League rivals.

There was major concern for the Frenchman on Sunday however when he was forced off early in the second-half of the 2-0 defeat to West Ham United. Yoro’s reaction after going down unchallenged was alarming, close to tears as he left the pitch. Ruben Amorim’s wasn’t much better, left with his head in his hands after a quick word with one of United’s medical staff.

The prognosis grew somewhat brighter. Yoro was able to walk off the pitch and was later spotted leaving Old Trafford without wearing a protective boot or the need for crutches. Amorim was also hopeful it was a ‘small thing’.

Yoro was absent from first-team training on Wednesday although was spotted in the gym at Carrington. Amorim was giving little away when discussing whether the teenager will recover in time for next week but all the signs at this stage are positive.

Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics working with the Premier League, told Metro: ‘It was absolutely a good sign to see him leaving the pitch and later the stadium unaided.

‘’As we saw him walking off behind the goals and then walking off down the sideline, his gait actually improves within that couple of 100 meters. He looked really sheepish and in discomfort when he was putting his weight on it as he was coming off but by the time he was halfway he was weight bearing almost fully.

‘My expectation would be that maybe there was some slight bone bruising, or worst-case scenario maybe he has slightly injured some soft tissue or ligaments mid-foot. But they will look to manage something like that looking towards next week and it wouldn’t look like something too debilitating to the point where they couldn’t take the risk.  

‘I would say something like this given how he was moving, it is something they can manage and they will be doing everything they can to protect him.’

Yoro suffered a fractured metatarsal in just his second appearance for the club following his £52million move from Lille during pre-season last summer, not making his competitive debut until December.

While Yoro’s injury on Sunday appeared to be on the same foot, the chances of it being a repeat or of similar severity are low.

‘It doesn’t appear to be anything like what happened in the summer,’ Smith said. ‘He would not have walked off the pitch or walked out of the stadium if there was any question if that being a fracture. They would have had him in a boot, they would have ensured there was no weight going through that. And they would definitely know by now too if that was the case.’

Yoro is one of four defenders who are doubts for the final with Matthijs de Ligt, Ayden Heaven and Diogo Dalot all still missing from first-team training this week.

Dalot has missed United’s last five games with a calf problem having played more minutes than any other player this season prior to that setback.

The full-back was back in individual training yesterday with Amorim naming him among the players ‘who have a possibility’ of featuring against Spurs next week. But Smith believes the timeline for a return in Bilbao is ‘very tight’.

‘A soft tissue injury like that can be an issue. The stress load on your calf is a lot, you use it to push off, to change direction and slow down.

‘If they are looking to have him fit and available for the Europa League final five days away and he is only doing individual training now, it could be tight. It has been almost a month away from touching the ball, almost a month away from that real match intensity. It is a long time.

‘Maybe [it is] fair enough if he was already back in team training and they were really starting to ramp up the intensity of that team training you would give him a fair shot. But to take someone who has just got back to individual training, that sounds less likely for me at this point in time.

‘And even then, there will be the question does he have enough match sharpness for it to be able to work in a game like that.’