The Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui will be sidelined for several weeks having undergone a medical procedure after heart palpitations.
Club sources have played down the seriousness, insisting it is a precautionary, minor corrective procedure to rectify a relatively common condition.
Mazraoui has had heart issues previously – after testing positive for Covid during the 2022 World Cup he was diagnosed with a mild inflammation of the pericardium (the membrane surrounding the heart) a month later – but it is understood there was no suggestion of an emergency situation before his procedure.
United have not put a timescale on his return and expect him to be available for selection “in the next few weeks”. The defender, who pulled out of Morocco’s squad on Monday, joined United from Bayern Munich for £12.5m in the summer.