Ruben Amorim has emphasized that he will field a “competitive” Manchester United team against Real Sociedad in the Europa League but acknowledged uncertainty surrounding Harry Ma97pguire’s fitness.
Before the weekend, United were already missing eight players due to various injuries, leaving Amorim with only seven substitutes against Fulham, two of whom were academy goalkeepers.
Maguire appears to be the latest addition to the injury list after being substituted on Sunday. The former captain played the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup fifth-round match but was unable to continue into extra time, with teenager Ayden Heaven replacing him for his United debut.9
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There was no immediate update on the severity of the injury after the final whistle at Old Trafford, with Maguire set to be assessed by the club’s medical team.
“I have to see how Harry Maguire is,” Amorim told reporters. “We will see. It’s a tough moment with injuries, but we have to move on. It will be a competitive team on Thursday.”
If Maguire is unavailable for the clash with Real Sociedad in San Sebastian, United’s defensive options will be stretched thin. Lisandro Martinez and Jonny Evans are already ruled out, and Luke Shaw, who can play as a left-sided centre-back, remains sidelined. Matthijs de Ligt, Victor Lindelof, and Leny Yoro are the likely candidates to start, with Heaven next in line.
With the FA Cup no longer offering a route into next season’s Europa League after United’s elimination, their only realistic path to European football in 2025/26 is to win the Europa League. The prize for that is Champions League qualification, a feat United last achieved under Jose Mourinho in 2017 after finishing sixth in the Premier League. With the team 11 points off the top six, qualifying for Europe through a league finish now seems highly unlikely.
