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There were hopes that Wayne Rooney would recover from his groin injury in time to play Manchester United's big Premier League game with Chelsea this weekend, though the Guardian is now claiming that he could be out for a further three weeks.
Despite being sent off to Egypt for some rather extravagant-sounding 'warm-weather training' last week, it's possible that the attacker will now be out until February. In that case he'd not only miss Sunday's clash with Chelsea, but also the home leg of the League Cup semi-final tie against Sunderland the following Wednesday, with United looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit.
In the prolonged absence of Robin van Persie and with the exception of a tantalising glimpse of brilliance from young Adnan Januzaj, Rooney has been pretty much the only player to show a whiff of world class this season. It's little wonder that David Moyes has been so desperate to rush him back.
