Erik ten Hag found himself on edge when the next casualty from Manchester United was Caseiro, who suffered an ankle injury while representing Brazil. The 31-year-old player was substituted with just 11 minutes remaining in Thursday night’s 1-1 draw between Brazil and Venezuela.

Although Brazil is slated to face Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night, Caseiro’s participation remains uncertain.

Following Brazil’s draw, head coach Fernando Diniz stated, “Caseiro requested to be substituted due to an ankle injury.”

Caseiro has been a consistent starter in all eight of United’s Premier League matches this season. He was acquired from Real Madrid for £70 million last year.

Meanwhile, Manchester United’s football director, John Murtough, disclosed that the club is investigating why they have such a lengthy list of injuries. He also acknowledged that Erik ten Hag’s team has struggled to stay fit at the beginning of the season.

“The mixed results so far have been influenced by the fact that 16 first-team players have been injured or unavailable for extended periods since the start of the season,” Murtough said.

“That’s two-thirds of the team, and Erik has only been able to field his best eleven on a few occasions this season. Some of the injured players are beginning to return, which is good news. This should provide assistance, particularly to our new players Rasmus Hojland and Mason Mount, who are still adjusting to the team.

“We are also attempting to determine why there have been so many injuries to see if there are any patterns that can help us prevent them in the future.”

“Some of them, like Kobe’s and Amad’s, were caused by impacts, which are difficult to predict. Others have been significant, potentially due to the high number of matches played over the past year, including the World Cup.”