A medical expert believes Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek could face up to a year on the sidelines after suffering an injury against Bournemouth.
The Netherlands international made his second Premier League start of the campaign on Tuesday evening as United ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Old Trafford.
Goals from Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford were enough to move the Red Devils level on points with third-place Newcastle United.
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Towards the end of the first half, Van de Beek was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Cherries defender Marcos Senesi.
Van de Beek hit the deck in agony, with footage of his leg bending back making for uncomfortable viewing. He left the pitch on his own two feet but couldn't hold back the tears before talking to manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag was asked about the Netherlands international's condition in his post-match interview, refusing to make a judgement without a proper diagnosis.
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He admitted: "We have to wait and then you can make the right diagnosis, so the medical team have to do their work. But it doesn't look great.
"What has happened to Donny is bad, in the first place, for Donny but also bad news for Manchester United, if it is a bad injury."
Ben Dinnery, who runs Premier Injuries, believes the injury could be a big blow for the 25-year-old. He compared it to Kurt Zouma and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's injuries in 2016 and 2017, both which ended up being ligament damage.
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He told Football Insider: "The knee hyperextended and then you also see the knee bend inwards. When you add the external force and the power from the challenge – it didn’t look great.
"Internally, Man United will now be carrying out a number of tests to evaluate the player, checking the integrity of the ligaments.
"The ACL is the obvious one – the Lachman test. It will be a good indication of if there is any damage, and they’ll also check for a fracture of the bone as well as any damage to the posterior cruciate ligament.
"Given the force of the challenge and the mechanism of the injury, they don’t usually happen in isolation.
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There’s potential involvement with the MCL (Medial Collateral ligament) and even some meniscus damage as well.
"Imaging will confirm the extent of the problem and they’ll hope the results come back better than initially feared, but I suspect he’ll have a lengthy spell on the sidelines."
Van de Beek has failed to establish himself as a first-team player at United since arriving from Ajax in 2020. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton, featuring just seven times due to a thigh issue.
Featured Image Credit: Premier LeagueTopics: Donny van de Beek, Manchester United, Premier League, Bournemouth