Casemiro is an injury doubt for Sunday’s Manchester derby with Erik ten Hag saying the midfielder faces a race against time to be fit to face Manchester City at Old Trafford.
The £63m signing suffered an ankle injury while playing for Brazil and missed Manchester United’s 2-1 win at Sheffield United while he was suspended for their Champions League victory over FC Copenhagen.
“‘Casa’ is in a race against the clock, [he is] not 100 percent,” said manager Ten Hag, whose defensive injury problems are easing with Aaron Wan-Bissaka back in training.
Ten Hag said United are in discussions with the FA as they hope Alejandro Garnacho will not be charged and banned for a tweet about goalkeeper Andre Onana that featured two emojis of gorillas.
The winger has since deleted the post while Onana defended his teammate and Ten Hag said: “We are talking with FA to see what [happens], I can confirm that. I want to emphasise that we are together and united and you have seen the post of Andre Onana.”
Edinson Cavani served a three-match ban during his time at United for a tweet and Garnacho may be at risk of a similar punishment.
United host champions City on a run of three consecutive wins in all competitions and Ten Hag believes his side are improving, though he feels they have some way to go.
He added: “This is a hard team to beat and they find a way to win so we are going in the right direction.”
