Manchester United news: Antonio Valencia suffers fractured arm with Jose Mourinho plunged into injury crisis

Valencia will have surgery on Saturday with Mourinho unable to name a defensive substitute for the Premier League clash with Burnley

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Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia faces a long spell on the sidelines after fracturing his arm, with the right-back set to undergo surgery on Saturday to leave Jose Mourinho facing a defensive injury crisis.

The 31-year-old has his left wrist taped during United’s 1-0 EFL Cup victory over Manchester City on Wednesday, and a short statement by the club ahead of their clash with Burnley confirmed the Ecuador international had suffered a fracture in his arm.

"Antonio Valencia has a fracture in his arm and will have surgery today,” the message read, with Mourinho calling on Matteo Darmian to replace Valencia in the starting line-up against Burnley.

Mourinho is already unable to call on Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling due to injury, with Bailly expected to miss up to two months after damaging knee ligaments in last weekend’s 4-0 thrashing by Chelsea. Mourinho is also reluctant to call on Phil Jones with the England defender still recovering from a long-term knee injury, meaning he is unable to name a single defender on the substitutes’ bench with Marcos Rojo joining Daley Blind at centre-back and Luke Shaw regaining his place on the left.

"They were the three players that start almost every match in the Premier League and now we lose all three in the same period," Mourinho told Sky Sports ahead of the match at Old Trafford.

"But that's football and it's an opportunity for others to play. We trust Darmian and we trust Marcos Rojo to have a positive influence."

There was also no space for out-of-favour midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who continues to be left out of United’s squad as he struggles to adapt to the Premier League, according to Mourinho. His explanation regarding Mkhitaryan’s absence on Friday has not gone done well though with the president of the Football Federation of Armenia, who has questioned Mourinho’s motives behind his decision.

"I cannot know what the Manchester United manager is thinking about," Ruben Hayrapetyan said, according to Armenpress.

"I have talked with Mkhitaryan. He also doesn't know what Jose Mourinho is thinking. Mkhitaryan trains and is in good shape, but no-one knows the reasons."