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ESPN staff 9y

Man Utd clarify Daley Blind is not out for six months after social media gaffe

Manchester United announced that Daley Blind could be out for six months with a knee injury on Thursday, but the club later clarified the quotes from manager Louis van Gaal to say it was not as bad as first feared.

The Dutch midfielder went off in Netherlands' game against Latvia earlier this week and has had a scan to reveal the extent of the damage.

Blind will undergo another scan in the coming days but United put out a tweet saying he 'could be out for six months' -- evidently misquoting their manager.

Van Gaal had told a news conference on Friday: "He is not ready, he has a brace on his knee. It'll be 10 days' rest, then we'll have another scan and say more about his injury.

"It's not as bad as the doctors thought after the match, but it shall be a long story, I believe, but not six months or something like that."

There was also good news with the Dutchman confirming that David de Gea and Angel Di Maria are both fit for Saturday's Premier League clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

De Gea had fractured a finger while on international duty with Spain, while Di Maria was caught by on-loan United winger Nani during Argentina's friendly with Portugal at Old Trafford earlier this week.

Van Gaal added: "De Gea is good, no problem."

Van Gaal also stated he expects Michael Carrick, who pulled out of England's squad for last weekend's Euro 2016 qualifier with Slovenia and Tuesday's friendly with Scotland, to be fit for the trip to North London, although Luke Shaw remains doubtful.

"We have to wait for tomorrow's training session to decide if [some players] are back," Van Gaal said. "My philosophy is that you have to train at least one week with the squad, better two. If you see our circumstances, we maybe have to bring players back to the squad."

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