The Mount stat that should have every Man Utd fan worried

28 Aug 2023 18:41 BST
3 min read

Erik ten Hag has been frustrated after seeing two of his major summer signings miss significant game time through injury, with Mason Mount joining Rasmus Hojlund on the sidelines.

Mount was hurt in his second game for United, picking up a hamstring problem that will see him miss the next three-to-six weeks of action, while Hojlund is still short of fitness having arrived with an injury after signing from Atalanta at the start of August.

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With Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia also having injury doubts, the addition of two costly signings who already have fitness concerns could draw cause for concern as the season progresses.

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In fact, both Mount and Hojlund have already missed more games through injury than Bruno Fernandes, despite the United star having been at Old Trafford since 2020.

Fernandes has been an ever-present during his time at the club, only being unavailable for United’s win over Tottenham in March 2022 due to illness.

While Fernandes’ ironman status speaks more to the 28-year-old’s longevity, United have been unable to keep a consistent line-up around their captain and Ten Hag will be hoping the blow to Mount in particular isn’t the sign of things to come.

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Hojlund is only entering the fourth season of his young career and, aside from a minor abductor issue at the back end of last season, the back issue currently plaguing the 20-year-old is the first injury of his career.

However Mount missed 13 games through various injuries for Chelsea last season, playing the least amount of matches in any season of the 24-year-old’s career so far.

Fernandes, meanwhile, has incredibly only suffered three ‘injuries’ in his entire career, with two of them being illness-related and causing him to miss a grand total of four matches.

Injuries are nothing new to United, having seen the likes of Anthony Martial and Shaw miss large parts of the season during their spells at the club, but recruiting players with potential issues will only add to Ten Hag’s problems.

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The United boss will be hoping for more players working towards Fernandes’ level of conditioning in order to ensure his big money transfers provide their worth.