Stoke City suffer serious blow to Premier League-linked star man | OneFootball

Million Manhoef is set to be sidelined for up to three months

Stoke City right-winger Million Manhoef is set to be sidelined for eight to 12 weeks after suffering a medial collateral ligament injury against Cardiff City last weekend.

Manhoef has been one of the Potters' star players since his £3.4m January move from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem, and this fresh update will come as a huge blow to the club and under-pressure head-coach Narcis Pelach.

The Dutch under-21 winger has registered five goals and three assists in 24 appearances in all competitions so far this term, and his good form saw Football League World exclusively reveal last week that the Potters were fielding interest in his services from Premier League clubs ahead of the January window.

Any move does look highly unlikely now, however, and the player will have to focus on a quick recovery to try and return in good time to help Stoke avoid a relegation battle this season.

Million Manhoef injury latest

Stoke-on-TrentLive have reported that Manhoef is set to be out for at least two-and-a-half months after limping out of Stoke's draw against Cardiff last time out after 61 minutes, as new scans have revealed that the injury is worse than initially feared.

Potters boss Narcis Pelach is already under pressure as it is, with his side in 17th place in the second-tier and winless in seven games heading into a huge game against Sheffield Wednesday next up, and he spoke to the extent of the 22-year-old's injury woes in his pre-match press conference prior to that trip to South Yorkshire.

"Milly picked up an injury in the last game. He thought first of all that he was going to be fine but then he was not so we had to change him and he has an injury, an MCL injury, and we are going to lose him for at least eight weeks but it could be 12," he told Stoke-on-TrentLive.

"It's between eight and 12 weeks so a big miss for us. He's a good player and he has produced the team's last three goals, for example.

"In the number 10 position he did two assists and last week he created the goal that Andy Moran scored. It's a big miss but it's an opportunity for other players."

Stoke have other fresh injury worries alongside Manhoef

A team in the position that the Potters are in right now needs all the luck and help they can get to return to winning ways and climb back up the table, yet this new update on their star winger's fitness will come as a huge blow to their chances of pulling away from the bottom three anytime soon.

Manhoef quickly became one of the Potters', and the Championship's, most exciting wingers in 2023/24 as he registered four goals and an assist in 14 games and played a key role in their eventually successful bid to avoid relegation to League One, and his good performances have continued this term after he attracted transfer interest throughout the summer.

As well as the 22-year-old, Pelach also offered unencouraging updates on a number of his other players' injury woes ahead of his side's trip to Hillsborough, with Bosun Lawal and Sam Gallagher both doubts after returning from their respective injuries last week, Jordan Thompson and Enda Stevens each still out, and Ben Pearson having suffered on his return from a long-term hamstring issue.

"Sam Gallagher picked up something as well in the 10 minutes he played against Cardiff, on the knee, so he has not been training the whole week and we will have to assess him today to see if he can be involved tomorrow," he told Stoke-on-TrentLive.

"It is something that is not going to be a long-term injury but it could be that he's not available for tomorrow and the next games over the Christmas period. We will have to wait today and see how he feels.

"We wanted Bosun to play in the under-21s game on Wednesday to get some minutes but he didn't feel right in his back so we had to stop him and he didn't train as well.

"He is the same as Sam today, we will see if he can go through training and if he feels right he will come and if not, he won't be available for this one and maybe the next ones.

"Then we have Enda Stevens with a calf injury, Jordan Thompson with a groin injury. He doesn't feel right and he's not training at the minute. Ben Pearson has been delayed a little bit and we need to wait a little bit longer for him, maybe six or seven days than was expected."

All of that news is unwelcome for Stoke, who face the likes of Leeds United, Sunderland and Burnley in the coming weeks, and need to start stringing together some wins with boss Pelach likely to be under serious pressure if his side do not improve their results soon.