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Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba’s return delayed by illness

Paul Pogba's return to Manchester United's first team has been delayed after the French midfielder fell ill, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said.

In comments made on Sunday but published only yesterday, Solskjaer said Pogba had been off for three days after being "struck down ill".

Videos were posted on social media on Monday of Pogba dancing at his brother Florentin's wedding outside Paris, which took place on Friday.

Pogba, 26, has played only six times this season after suffering an ankle injury in September.

Solskjaer is hopeful he will be available before the end of the year, but the latest setback has ruled him out of their League Cup quarter-final against League Two side Colchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow morning (Singapore time).

"Of all things, he's struck down ill now," said Solskjaer.

"He's been off for two or three days - three days probably - so that's not beneficial. That's probably set him back...

"We just need to get him match-fit. He might be half an hour, 45, 60, 90 minutes in the first game. We're working hard to get him back, but now he's ill."

United slipped to sixth in the English Premier League after Sunday's 1-1 draw against Everton. But Solskjaer said he was impressed with teenage striker Mason Greenwood, who scored his seventh goal for United in all competitions this season.

Solskjaer said he is considering giving Greenwood a run of games to see if he can extend his purple patch in front of goal over the festive period.

"He's making it hard for me to leave him out," he said.

"I remember when I came to the club and I kept scoring a few goals and, even though I felt I could have performed better, the manager's comments were 'It's hard to keep players who score out of the team'.

"It's very difficult now to put a team out there without having Mason in my mind." - REUTERS

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