Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits to having been left baffled by reports suggesting that Harry Maguire was set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, with the centre-half in contention to face Norwich on Saturday.
It had been suggested that the England international could be missing for some time after picking up a hip problem.
Maguire suffered a knock while on FA Cup duty against Wolves, forcing him to sit out the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City.
Solskjaer said when quizzed on the 26-year-old’s fitness that the issue was “not a long-term one”, with many reading between the lines and coming to the conclusion that the most expensive defender in world football would be forced out of Premier League fixtures in the immediate future.
United have now moved to calm those concerns, with there every chance that £80 million ($104m) man Maguire will line up against the Canaries at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer told reporters: “He’s got a chance, it was a minor thing.
“I don’t know where the reports are coming from, they might’ve mistaken it for Harry Kane. He will go through training and see how he reacts.
“It’s not a surprise, he’s a warrior and if there’s a minor problem he’ll put himself up to play and that’s what he did against Wolverhampton.
“At half-time he was feeling discomfort, he was close to playing against City, just not fit enough but he’s got a chance now.”
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United could do with Maguire being passed fit as Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe remain out of action, while Chris Smalling is on loan at Roma.
It was suggested that the Red Devils may be tempted to bolster their ranks at the back if Maguire was to be ruled out, but Solskjaer is not expecting much movement in the January window.
He said when asked about his recruitment plans: “We’ve still got the same thoughts we had a month ago, we've got the players we have, working with the ones we have and if something happens we’ll tell you.
“I can’t say yes or no but I wouldn’t expect many ins and outs.”
One of those who could be departing is club stalwart Ashley Young, with the 34-year-old said to be closing in on a switch to Serie A giants Inter as his United contract runs down.
Asked about the versatile England international, Solskjaer said: “He’s one of our players, our captain, there’s loads of speculation, we’ve just got to handle it. Ashley’s been very professional and focused so I don’t think that’s going to change.”
“Ashley’s been very, very good for this club, been a very good captain this season, so let’s see where we are in June and February as well.”