Sesko ruled out until 2027 as United carry five injury concerns into Chelsea clash

Benjamin Sesko has been ruled out until 2027 with a persistent shin injury, Manchester United confirmed this week, as head coach Michael Carrick prepares to take a depleted squad to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, 31 October.

Sesko’s prolonged absence is the most significant of several fitness concerns hanging over United heading into the weekend. Carrick acknowledged the blow at his Thursday press conference: “Unfortunately Ben looks like he’s going to be out for a period of time. We’re still not clear of exactly how long, but it’s going to be for a longer period of time. It was the process — we had to go through a bit of a healing process for the injury to see how it would react and what direction to go with that. Even now we’re still working through it.”

The United manager did have some positive news to share, however. Kobbie Mainoo, who had been sidelined with a muscular problem, returned to training at Carrington this week and is in contention to feature against Chelsea. “Good news — Kobbie’s done a little bit of training yesterday, so he’s back in and around the group, so that’s obviously a positive,” Carrick said.

Luke Shaw remains unavailable. Carrick confirmed earlier this month that the left-back would be out longer than Mainoo, and Shaw did not return to training this week, pointing to a return no earlier than November.

Marcus Rashford is also absent after missing the defeat at Como with a hip problem. He did not feature in training ahead of the Chelsea game and was not mentioned during Thursday’s press conference, with a potential return pencilled in for the Europa League fixture against AS Roma on 3 November.

Patrick Dorgu, who picked up a thigh injury in recent weeks, adds to the list of absentees Carrick must manage at Stamford Bridge.

The visit to Chelsea comes at a critical moment for Carrick, who was handed a reprieve after crisis talks on Monday following heavy defeats to Como and Bournemouth. Lisandro Martinez and Ayden Heaven did return to the squad for the Bournemouth game, offering some encouragement, but United arrive in west London in need of a result to ease the pressure on their embattled head coach.