MANCHESTER UNITED ARE down to the bare bones for Tuesday night’s critical Champions League clash with German side Wolfsburg.
Wayne Rooney, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are all injured and join long-term casualties Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw in the treatment room.
The United squad is so depleted that they’ve recalled a forgotten face to the 19-man group.
Nick Powell, now 21, was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2012, along with Shinji Kagawa but after an encouraging start where he scored on his debut in a Premier League game against Wigan, he rapidly faded.
There was a successful loan spell with Wigan during the 2013/2014 campaign where he scored 7 goals in 23 Championship starts but amidst all the chaos at Old Trafford, he failed to work his way back into the United first-team squad.
Powell was struggling and in May 2014, he was convicted of drink-driving and banned from getting behind a wheel for 14 months.
When Louis van Gaal arrived, he sent on another season-long loan to Leicester but was back in January of this year after just three top-flight appearances when Nigel Pearson terminated the deal early.
Then there was a horrible hamstring injury that required surgery to rectify and only made his comeback in late-November, training with the first-team prior to the European tie with PSV.
When he joined United from Crewe, the club had spent a long time scouting him before Ferguson went to see the then-18-year-old in action against Aldershot, deciding inside the opening five minutes that he liked what he saw.
“We hope Powell fills Paul Scholes’ boots”, said Ferguson.
United paid Crewe £4m for Powell’s services but in three and a half years of being a registered player, he’s still to start a Premier League game for them.
His last appearance in the senior side was in the humiliating 4-0 loss to MK Dons in the Capital One Cup last August.
Here’s hoping he can take full advantage of the injury crisis currently engulfing the club and force his way back into the picture.
