Manchester United Suffer Major Blow As Key Forward Ruled Out Of Season, Confirms Solskjaer

KEY POINTS

Solskjaer revealed that Martial is out of the 2020-21 season
He sprained his knee last month while on international duty with France
Manchester United defeated Brighton 2-1 in the league on Sunday

Manchester United have suffered a major blow with the news that their forward Anthony Martial will miss the rest of the season due to an injury.

The Red Devils boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, confirmed that Martial sprained his knee while on international duty with France. Solskjaer spoke about Martial's situation ahead of his side's Premier League clash with Brighton on Sunday.

"Unfortunately, he sprained his knee with France. It's always when they go away on internationals. You can keep your fingers crossed and hope they come back fit," the Norwegian told MUTV ahead of Sunday's game, which Manchester United won 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer added that Martial's France national teammate Paul Pogba's form could be a boost for them. Pogba lived up to Solskjaer's expectations by assisting the winner struck by Mason Greenwood at Old Trafford against Brighton.

"Paul has played in all three games, 30, 60, 90 minutes, so that was a boost for us. [But] losing Anthony for what might be the rest of the season is very disappointing, especially when reports from there [France] was that it wasn’t anything serious but it looks a bad one," said Solskjaer in the MUTV interview.

After Danny Welback put Brighton 1-0 up within 13 minutes, Marcus Rashford scored a 62nd minute-equalizer before Greenwood netted the winner a few minutes later. The win over Brighton on Sunday meant Solskjaer's side remained in second place in the Premier League table.

Last month, Martial limped out of France's Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier game against Kazakhstan. While it looked like a minor injury initially, it has been confirmed now that he will miss the remainder of the 2020-21 campaign. Martial's injury has not only hit Manchester United's hopes in the Europa League, but also the striker's chances of making the European Championships this summer.

In 36 matches, in all competitions, Martial has netted seven goals for Manchester United and provided eight assists.