Man Utd quartet ‘missing’ from travelling squad for Premier League clash vs Fulham

Cristiano Ronaldo has not travelled with Manchester United’s squad to London for the club’s final game before the World Cup break, according to reports.

The Red Devils’ squad departed for the capital on Saturday ahead of the clash with Fulham the following day, and the Manchester Evening News claim Ronaldo has not joined up with the group. The 37-year-old missed the midweek Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa on Thursday and, speaking that night, Erik ten Hag revealed he was not sure if Ronaldo would be fit in time for the weekend.

“I can’t guarantee that now [if Ronaldo will be fit] and he was ill today,” said the Dutchman. “He can recover from that. It’s not a serious illness that takes days or weeks. I think it is possible that he is available for Sunday and that he will be in the squad.”

Also not part of the group, as per the MEN, were Antony and Jadon Sancho. The latter has missed the last three, while Antony has a hip problem, although Ten Hag confirmed on Saturday it will not be serious enough to prevent him from meeting up with Brazil’s World Cup squad in Qatar.

“We will work on that but I can’t confirm that he will be in the squad for Sunday,” the United manager explained in his pre-match press conference. “But he made progress in the last days and we will see tomorrow, Saturday, if he will be available for the team on Sunday.”

The fourth and final doubt heading into the game, who also reportedly didn’t travel to London, was Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The defender has played just four minutes this season for United and was not expected to be in the squad for Sunday’s game.

“Aaron Wan-Bissaka struggles but in a different side,” Ten Hag said on Thursday night. “He had some injury, some illnesses. So he was often not available but he doesn’t have a real big problem. It’s about him to get really fit and to make competition with Diogo [Dalot] for the second half of the season.”

Dalot is suspended for the clash with Fulham, with Victor Lindelof or Tyrell Malacia expected to deputise at right-back in his place. Meanwhile Nathan Bishop, Zidane Iqbal and Shola Shoretire are reportedly part of the United squad for Sunday.