Valencia Has A Bad Injury

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has confirmed Antonio Valencia is facing a lengthy spell out after undergoing an “important surgery” on his fractured arm at the weekend.

The Ecuadorian suffered his "bad injury" during the 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the EFL Cup and was forced to have an operation on the day of the Reds’ Premier League draw with Burnley.

It was a particular blow for the 31-year-old following his exceptional start to the season that had just this week earned him one of three nominations for the club’s October Player of the Month award.

At a press conference to preview United’s Europa League match with Fenerbahce, Mourinho was asked to provide an update on the severity of Valencia’s injury and the duration of his absence.

“Valencia is a bad injury, yes,” the manager told reporters in Istanbul, Turkey. “It's an important fracture in his arm and an important surgery too, so he'll be out for a while.”

Encouragingly, Valencia has vowed to come back stronger from his injury in an Instagram video that he posted to his 750,000 followers on Sunday night. “Now thinking only in recovery,” he said. "I want to come back soon and help my team. I'll come back stronger and always optimistic.”

Mourinho went to praise Matteo Darmian for the way he performed against Burnley in Valencia’s absence and expressed his confidence in the Italy international who now has a chance to shine.

“The good thing is that even when Antonio was playing very well, we were preparing Darmian and he was having matches,” Jose said on Wednesday. “He was playing against Feyenoord, Zorya Luhansk and Fenerbahce and he was having minutes to develop himself.

“In the last match we had to play Darmian for the first time in the Premier League and he was ready. He played really well against Burnley. We trust him totally and he is obviously ready to play tomorrow to give continuity to the good work our right-backs are doing in both competitions.”