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Manchester United boosted by the return of Valencia

Manchester United have been boosted by the potential return of Antonio Valencia, who recently revealed that he is doing well in his rehabilitation process.

The Ecuadorian winger has been a major absentee for United, who have struggled for goals. One of the reasons for United struggling to score goals is the lack of pace up front. Louis van Gaal recently admitted that there was an issue with speed in the team. This could be solved by the return of Valencia, who is one of the fastest players in the Premier League. The former Wigan man is currently on the sidelines following an injury sustained during the Manchester derby back in October.

Valencia recently tweeted that he has been making sufficient progress in order to return to the team. However, Van Gaal admitted that the player may be a good month away from returning to the first-team since he does not have the required fitness now. The Dutchman is stringent when it comes to fitness requirements from his players. It was a major reason behind Luke Shaw, who is one of the world’s most expensive left backs, being unable to feature regularly for United in his first year at the club.

Guillermo Varela has been playing at right back in the last few weeks due to injuries.“Closer to [a] return to the ground [pitch] and feeling happy,” said Valencia on his Twitter account. “Valencia is longer term and very long. It is not within three months or something. It is a very heavy injury,” said the manager when the player suffered the injury. Van Gaal is likely to enter into the transfer market in order to improve the squad, which has been comparatively down on talent than during the days under Sir Alex Ferguson when the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the headlines.