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Manchester United’s injury issues last season were almost as big a talking point as the team’s on-field exploits.
Were it not for that infamous worst-ever Premier League finish, Erik ten Hag’s difficult second season at Old Trafford would surely be remembered for its injuries alone.
The Dutchman certainly didn’t let anyone forget it, and while fans grew weary of the shoddy displays explained away by the lists of missing players, it’s an inescapable fact that fielding over 30 different defensive combinations across the season is not going to make life easy for any team.
Sporting Post have crunched the numbers, as reported by the Manchester Evening News, and identified the players who spent the most and least time on the treatment table.
The stats include this summer’s arrivals, painting a mixed picture of how busy United’s medical team may be with the new faces in the squad.
Although not making it clear exactly what timeframe they’ve used, Sporting Post confirm what everyone knew, that left-back Tyrell Malacia (remember him?) is the team’s most injury-prone player, missing an average of 103.6 days per season.
But fans will be thrilled to see new arrival Manuel Ugarte leading the pack, missing an average of just 2.2 days per season through injury.
The midfield is one of United’s most unstable areas, and if the combative Uruguayan can keep fit he could be the man to steady Ten Hag’s storm-tossed ship.
He just edges the honour over captain Bruno Fernandes, who missed an average of 2.4 days per season, and then it’s quite a jump to goalkeeper Andre Onana and his 15.6 day average.
But it seems some fans were right to have reservations about new right-back Noussair Mazraoui, who has made an impressive start to life at Old Trafford but seems destined for the treatment table at some point, missing an average of 75.4 days per season.
See the top 10s of the most and least injury-prone players, in United’s squad, measured in average days missed through injury per season, below.
Most injury-prone
Tyrell Malacia – 103.6
Luke Shaw – 92.4
Tom Heaton – 91
Jonny Evans – 83
Noussair Mazraoui – 75.4
Christian Eriksen – 73.8
Lisandro Martínez – 72.6
Marcus Rashford – 61.8
Altay Bayındır – 53.6
Amad Diallo – 52.3
Least injury-prone
Manuel Ugarte – 2.2
Bruno Fernandes – 2.4
Andre Onana – 15.6
Casemiro – 20.2
Rasmus Hojlund – 23
Diogo Dalot – 30.8
Harry Maguire – 33.2
Victor Lindelof – 37.8
Antony – 39.2
Joshua Zirkzee – 45.5
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