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Manchester United defender Alex Telles will miss the start of the new season due to an injury. Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that the Brazilian defender will be out until September.
The United manager told the club's official website:
"Unfortunately, it's worse news on Alex Telles than we hoped for. His ankle injury is a little bit more severe than we hoped and he’ll be out for a little spell at least, the whole of August I would think.”
Solskjaer, however, is not too worried by the injury as he feels he has good young players to fill in for Alex Telles. He believes injuries are part and parcel of football.
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“That is football. We’ve got kids wanting to play of course. Brandon has done well in the left-back position,” the boss added.
When did Telles join Manchester United?
Manchester United signed Alex Telles from FC Porto in the extended summer transfer market last season. The Brazilian was an important player for the Portuguese club. However, a contract stand-off between the two parties meant that Manchester United could sign Telles on the cheap.
The Red Devils ended up paying only £15.4 million for the 27-year-old defender, which included add-ons worth £1.8 million. Telles signed a four-year contract with Manchester United with the option of extending it for another year.
How signing Telles helped Luke Shaw rediscover his form
Telles, who has only one cap for his country, was tipped to replace Luke Shaw at Manchester United. The English defender was in a poor run of form and the general conception was that he would be benched by the Brazilian.
However, the signing of Telles motivated Shaw to rejuvenate his career at Manchester United. Over the last 10 months, Shaw has not only become the starting defender at Manchester United but also one of the best left-backs in Europe.
Telles saw his role demoted to that of a bench player, giving Manchester United two strong options at left-back. The 28-year-old went on to make 24 appearances over the 2020-21 season, most of them coming from the bench. In his debut season for United, he recorded four assists to his name and will want to build on that tally this year.
Why Shaw is better than Telles
Telles is more of an attacking full-back than Shaw and loves to play as a provider from the left flank by dishing in rollicking crosses for the strikers. However, his defensive game is considered to be inconsistent, making Shaw the first choice defender at Manchester United.
