MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is set to miss the Europa League final against Villarreal on Wednesday.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer downplayed expectations about Maguire returning from an ankle injury in time to play in Gdansk, Poland.
“He’s walking but it’s a long way from walking to running,” Solskjaer said Friday. “So, to be honest, I don’t think we’ll see him in Gdansk, no.”
The England center back damaged ligaments in his ankle in a Premier League match at Aston Villa on May 9 when Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi landed on him.
England’s first game of the European Championship is against Croatia on June 13, and Solskjaer’s latest update suggested Maguire wasn’t too far away from returning.
“As I’ve said so many times, I’m going to give him until Tuesday night, the last training session, and see if he can try to be out there,” Solskjaer said.
“Steadily but surely he’s improving, but ligaments — they take time to heal.”
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports