Manchester United star Maraoune Fellaini out until 2018 after aggravating knee injury

Maraoune Fellaini is unlikely to play for Manchester United again this year after aggravating a long-standing knee problem. The Belgian missed a month of action in October after injuring his medial collateral ligament on international duty and he returned early to ease an injury crisis that left Jose Mourinho without Paul Pogba and Michael Carrick at the same time. Fellaini appeared in clashes against Chelsea, Basel and Brighton but swelling has accompanied every match he’s played so far and the 30-year-old has aggravated the problem, say the Telegraph. United face a hectic festive schedule in which they take on West Brom, Leicester, Burnley, Southampton and Everton in the space of two weeks.

However, Fellaini is set to miss all of those games and is not expected to return until the middle of January. With Paul Pogba serving the last game of his suspension on Sunday, Mourinho could be forced into calling on Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera once more. The pair started in United’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City last Sunday but Scott McTominay replaced Herrera in midweek against Bournemouth.