Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney will be unavailable for a month after sustaining a hamstring injury in training.
He was flown home from United’s pre-season tour of Thailand for further assessment.
Rooney could now miss United’s Community Shield fixture on August 11, England’s friendly against Scotland on August 14 and United’s visit to Swansea in their first league game of the season on August 17.
United manager David Moyes has claimed that Rooney will ‘remain a Manchester United player’ despite stories of unrest with the striker apparently requesting to leave Old Trafford towards the end of last season according to former manager Sir Alex Ferguson – something that Rooney himself has never confirmed.