United’s injury situation has gotten worse with the news that Darren Fletcher is to take “an extended break from football” owing to a chronic inflammatory bowel condition, Manchester United announced on Tuesday.
A statement from the club said:
“Over the past year he has had several absence periods which we have attributed to a viral illness in order to respect his right to medical confidentiality. Darren has, in fact, been suffering from ulcerative colitis (a chronic inflammatory bowel condition) for some time preceding this.
“Whilst he was able to maintain remission of symptoms for a considerable period this has proved more difficult recently and Darren’s continued desire to play and his loyalty to both his club and country has probably compromised the chances of optimising his own health and fitness.
“He has therefore accepted medical advice to take an extended break from the demands of training and playing in order to afford the best chance possible of achieving full remission once again.
“We request that his privacy is respected and hope that the removal of the additional stress associated with speculation regarding his health will also aid his recovery.”
Obviously this is a serious health concern for Fletcher and that recovering from that is more important than when he will step back onto the football pitch.
But from a footballing standpoint, will Fletcher’s long-term absence force Sir Alex to buy a midfielder in January. United are already missing Anderson with a serious knee injury and now Fletcher. That area in the middle of the park needs help if United are to catch City.
