Manchester United round-up: Michael Keane to re-sign; Paul Pogba injury update; Jose Mourinho’s Burnley reaction

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The Express claim that Burnley defender Michael Keane is set to return to his former club in the summer with a transfer back to Manchester United looking incredibly likely only two years after the now England international moved to Turf Moor permanently after a loan spell at the club.

Valued at £20 million, a sell on clause in that deal may see the fee reduced to just £15 million, which seems a bargain given that the likes of Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal are also tracking the centre-back who came through the youth system at Old Trafford and would add depth to a shallow defence with the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo currently out injured.

Another man to add to the list of injuries in the physio’s room in Manchester is Paul Pogba after he was taken off injured at Turf Moor on Sunday as Jose Mourinho explained that he was feeling the effects of playing 120 minutes on Thursday and another game on Sunday, with the Manchester Evening News quoting him as saying:

“I don’t know. Dead he is for sure, if he’s injured or if it’s just the super accumulation of fatigue in the muscles, I don’t know. But as I was saying, if he cannot play Thursday he cannot play Thursday, we play another one and we don’t cry, like we didn’t today.”

United fans will be hoping that the midfielder will be available for the visit to the Etihad stadium on the other side of Manchester this Thursday with the clash now gaining value after Liverpool slipped up against Crystal Palace to open the door to a top four finish for the Red Devils.

The team went one step to achieving that as they saw off Burnley with a comfortable 2-0 win, and Jose Mourinho was pleased by the display which saw Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney on the score sheet. He told the club website:

“Individual performances, top. Collective performance, top. Total control of the game. Very difficult place to play and I think, since the beginning of the game, we had a feeling that we were going to win the game. Even in the second half, [it was] closer to 3-0 than 2-1. Very good really.” 

It was Rooney’s third Premier League goal of the season as he cut back a shot which edged over the line after Martial opened the scoring by finishing a smart counter-attacking move.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Craig Ballantyne.