Ruben Amorim has opened the door to Manchester United being active in the January transfer window following an injury to Benjamin Sesko.
Sesko, 22, injured his left knee during United’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, after spurning an opportunity in the 86th minute of the game to give his side the lead.
The striker, who joined United from RB Leipzig last summer in a deal initially worth €76.5million (£66.4m; $89.1m), was making his 11th Premier League appearance — Saturday was his sixth as a substitute.
Amorim, who later this season will be without Amad, Noussair Mazraoui, and Bryan Mbeumo when they compete in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), spoke on Sesko’s injury as well as how his team will cope without the trio.
“We have to check (on Sesko),” the United head coach said. “He had something in his knee so we have to see. We have to check everything, we have to check what’s happened with Ben. Of course, we are going to have a problem there (AFCON), but we already knew that.
“We knew that we would have a lot of players who are not going to play because it’s one game a week, so we knew that trying to manage that situation was going to be hard,
“Let’s see when the window is open, if we can improve the team, and try to repair something that happened. Until then we have to take the chance. We’ll see.”
Sesko has scored two goals in 12 games this season, with his last coming against Sunderland in October.
However, Amorim, who on Friday urged the striker to shrug off criticism of his start to life in Manchester, again dispelled worries about the Slovenia international’s form.
He added, “I think that is not the biggest concern now. In the same way that he was not scoring, then, he might score two goals in the next two games. That happens, especially with a striker.
“I am more concerned with an injury, because it’s his knee. We don’t know, and we need Ben to be a better team.”
AFCON takes place from December 21 to January 18, spanning United’s Premier League fixtures against Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Burnley and Manchester City, as well as an FA Cup third-round tie.