Manchester United attacking midfielder Fellaini is one of those footballers who consistently plays within the grey areas of the rules on the pitch. He’s extremely valuable to United, and thoroughly despised by fans of rival clubs. The Manchester City France official Twitter account took a blatant swipe at him today.
If he’s on your side, you’re good with Fellaini, if he’s on the opposing team, he’s a villain. Unfortunately for United, the Belgian keeps missing time on the pitch as he continues to battle a mysterious knee injury. The issue isn’t resolving itself and now Fellaini has had to undergo further evaluation.
The whole situation must be a huge strain on United manager Jose Mourinho as the 30-year-old is a favored player of his in selection, and he must deal with a very uncertain contract situation surrounding the player as well. Mourinho admits the contract situation has provided much worry for him..
Over the international break in October, Fellaini suffered strained ligaments in his knee while on Belgium duty. Initially he was only supposed to be out for two weeks, but that report/prognosis was proven to be way off the mark as he ended up missing six games. He returned as a sub in the 61′ against Chelsea on November 5, and played two more times in domestic league action as a late game substitute.
He started against FC Basel in the Champions League on November 22, and then came on for the last 11 minutes against Brighton three days later. He hasn’t seen the pitch this month and has now featured in only half of United’s games this season.
ESPN FC first reported today that: “Fellaini has undergone further scans in a bid to get to the root of the problem but, so far, the injury remains a mystery. And that has left Mourinho and United’s medical staff unable to put a timescale on his return to action.”
Additionally, Team Talk points out how: “Fellaini is out of contract at the end of this season and is refusing to sign the new deal currently on offer, instead asking for a longer contract to remain at Old Trafford.”
So it’s a stressful situation for United on two fronts with Fellaini- on both fitness, and with his contractual future.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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