Solskjaer rules United captain Maguire out of Europa League final

MANCHESTER United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted that he is not expecting captain Harry Maguire to be fit for the UEFA Europa League final.

The Red Devils face Samuel Chukwueze’s Villarreal in the continental final on Wednesday in Gdansk, Poland hunting for their first trophy under Solskjaer.

Maguire suffered an ankle ligament injury in the Premier League win at Aston Villa earlier this month and has missed United’s last three matches.

When the England defender was seen at a screening of Sir Alex Ferguson’s film at Old Trafford on Thursday night without crutches, there were hopes that he might be available for the final.

However, Solskjaer says although he has not totally lost hope, he does not believe Maguire will be ready.

“He is walking but it is a long way from that to running,” Solskjaer said during his press conference on Friday.

“We will give him every chance but I don’t think we will see him in Gdansk.

“Steadily but surely he is improving but ligaments take time to heal.”

Solskjaer, who was previewing Sunday’s last-day Premier League trip to Wolves, claimed that his Manchester United side had made significant progress this season after they finished second for only the second time since Sir Alex retired in 2013.

“I hope we will strengthen with two or three players we definitely need to challenge higher up the table,” he added.

“We are too far behind to think it will come by itself.

“We’re not where we aim to be, we’ve got ambitions to move one place further up
but it’s been steady improvement. We had a difficult start with a lack of pre-season and lost three of the first seven games.

“That put pressure on the team but they have managed it well and the players have been very good.”

United have not won any of their three matches without Maguire, losing at home to Leicester City and Liverpool, and drawing with Fulham, all at Old Trafford.