United target to undergo further knee surgery

There used to be a Manchester United blog around here somewhere. Now, though, we're a Kevin Strootman update blog — the Strooty Strumpet, perhaps — and in our newfound role, we have bad news to impart. Strootles, who limped out of Roma's 1-1 draw with Fiorentina last Sunday, will undergo surgery on his knee, and is expected to miss at least four weeks as a result.

This is the same knee, of course, in which he snapped his anterior cruciate ligament last January, an injury that kept him out of the World Cup, and from which he only returned a couple of months ago. Apparently he's suffering from something called Cyclops Syndrome, which according to Roma's website (and Mr G. Translate) consists of:

a mass of fibrous tissue ... with respect to which suggested for removal through arthroscopy.

They're also going to have a look at his new ACL while they're in there, which makes sense, we suppose. Anyway, this seems to have ruled out any January transfer for the midfielder who is so beloved of Louis van Gaal, and perhaps brings any summer move into doubt as well. Er ... has anybody seen Plan B?