Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has confirmed that Joshua Zirkzee will miss the remainder of the season.
The Netherlands international limped off the field during Sunday's Premier League clash with Newcastle United after suffering a hamstring issue, and Amorim admitted after the game against the Magpies that he was not positive about the striker's chances of being involved in Thursday's Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon.
Earlier this week, reports suggested that Zirkzee would be out for the rest of the campaign, and the Man United head coach has now revealed that the former Bayern Munich youngster will miss the final weeks of the season.
"Joshua is out for the season. So he's not going to play more this season. Let's prepare him for the next one," Amorim told reporters during Wednesday's press conference to preview the clash with Lyon.
"It's tough, especially in this moment. I think he's improving in all aspects of the game, so it's hard for any player to stop, but this is football and he has to be ready now to recover."
Zirkzee has had a tough first season at the club after arriving from Bologna, only managing seven goals and three assists in 48 appearances, but the 23-year-old's recent from had been impressive.
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Zirkzee will miss the remainder of the campaign
Amorim also provided an update on Matthijs de Ligt and Ayden Heaven, with the latter suffering a setback ahead of Thursday's clash with Lyon, while the former has missed the team's last three matches with an unspecified issue.
Jonny Evans is back in training, but he will not be available against Lyon, while Amad Diallo is making excellent progress in his recovery from an ankle injury, but the Ivorian is yet to return to training alongside his teammates.
"Matta [de Ligt] is going to return still this season," added Amorim. "Ayden is out for this game, he had a small issue in the same spot during training, a contact with a teammate.
"Jonny Evans is returning to the training but is not available for this game and some other players that we have to manage the minutes. Amad is not ready for this month but we hope to have Amad still for this season."
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De Ligt expected to return to training this week
Addressing De Ligt, Amorim said that he is expecting the Netherlands international to be back on the training ground this week, hinting at a possible return against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday, although it is more likely that he will be back against Bournemouth on April 27.
"Yeah he's going to return before the end of the season. He has some game. He finished the game against Nottingham so sometimes it's something that we need to be sure he's in the right moment to return to competition. He's working really hard and he's a tough guy so we expect to have Matta in this next week," said Amorim.
Harry Maguire, Noussair Mazraoui and Leny Yoro are expected to feature as the back three for Man United on Thursday night, with Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu operating in the wing-back positions.
Lisandro Martinez will miss the remainder of the campaign for the Red Devils, and the Argentina international faces a battle to be back before the end of the year due to the serious knee injury that he suffered at the start of 2025.
Matt Law
