Antonio Valencia will be out for at least three months with a foot injury, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed.
Valencia suffered the injury to his left foot in the 0-0 draw against Manchester City last month.
Valencia underwent surgery last week and Van Gaal confirmed the Ecuadorian will not be back until the end of February at the earliest.
The United manager told MUTV: “Valencia is longer term and very long. It is not within three months or something. It is a very heavy injury.”
The 30-year-old utility man has only started two league games for Man. United this season.
Oxlade-Chamberlain suffers injury setback
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
The England forward is ex-pected to miss the key Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb next Tuesday.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “He had a slight setback on Monday but we checked by scan and there is nothing wrong.”
Aaron Ramsey – who has been absent since the October 20 win over Bayern Munich – is likely to be fit to face Dinamo but Oxlade-Chamberlain will be available for the following weekend’s clash with Norwich at the earliest.
City’s Nasri could miss five months
Man. City boss Manuel Pellegrini fears Samir Nasri could miss most of the rest of the season.
French forward Nasri, who has missed City’s last six games with a hamstring injury, last week revealed via Twitter that he could be out for another three months.
Now Pellegrini has given more details about the 28-year-old’s condition, revealing that he faces a tendon operation after suffering a setback on the training ground, and the lay-off could be longer than feared.
Pellegrini said: “We don’t have Nasri for four or five months.
“He has a tendon injury so now he must have surgery because it’s an important (serious) injury.”
Scottish league needs revamp – Henderson
The format of the Scottish league is outdated and should be restructured with a 16-team Premiership to help boost football in the country, says the chairman of second-tier promotion challengers Falkirk.
Doug Henderson said that the slide of Scottish football, from falling attendances to the poor performance of the national side and their top clubs in Europe, would continue unless steps were taken to change the current system.
“I believe that we must put vested interest aside and reform our leagues bringing about a 16-team Premier Division,” he said.
“Playing other clubs four times a season is not attractive to most Scottish football supporters.”
Inter boss Thohir to reject offers for Icardi
Inter supremo Erick Thohir told reporters yesterday that he will turn down the offers from Premier League clubs for striker Mauro Icardi.
With the January transfer window approaching, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are all being linked with a move for Argen-tina’s Icardi with rumoured bids hovering around €35m.
However, according to Tutto-sport newspaper, Thohir has absolutely no intention of selling his captain and last season’s Serie A top scorer.
Icardi, 22, is under contract with Inter until the summer of 2019.
He was signed from Sampdoria in 2013 for €12m and has since more than doubled in value.
Supporter tries to punch Bald Eagle
Police have arrested a man suspected of trying to punch Crystal Palace’s live mascot, an American Bald Eagle called Kayla, during a match at the club’s Selhurst Park ground in September.
The Croydon Advertiser re-ported that the 34-year-old was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and attempted criminal damage at the League Cup match against South London rivals Charlton Athletic.
Kayla, who has also featured on the cover of an album by US rock band The Kings of Leon, has been the Premier League club’s mascot since 2010 and flies around the stadium at home games.
Crystal Palace are also known as The Eagles.
Dinamo’s Ademi gets four-year ban
Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Arijan Ademi has been banned for four years after he failed a drug test following a Champions League match against Arsenal in September, the Croatian club said.
“The UEFA disciplinary committee made the harshest possible decision and suspended Ademi for four years,” Dinamo said.
“We couldn’t imagine this even in a worst-case scenario. We will do everything we can to support Ademi in this tough period for our player.”
Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic said the club was shocked and intended to appeal.
The 24-year old midfielder has made three international appearances for Macedonia.