Van Gaal said at his press conference ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash with FC Midtjylland that the reason Rooney had not travelled with United to Denmark was a knee problem sustained in the 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Sunderland on Saturday.
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British media reported that Rooney has damaged knee ligaments and will be out of action for about two months.
It means he is likely to miss crucial ties against Shrewsbury, Arsenal, Watford, West Brom, Crystal Palace, Man City, Everton and Spurs.
Manchester United fans in Herning have staged a protest against the extortionate price of Europa League tickets for away fans.
While making reference to the options he does have available up front – primarily Martial – Van Gaal did mention Will Keane, the 23-year-old striker who recently scored five times in a United Under-21 game.
Rooney, with 14 goals in all competitions, is United’s top scorer this season and has netted seven times in his last nine matches.
“Spanish teams have dominated the Europa League and the Champions League, but it has given clubs like Sevilla a chance to show the world how good they are”.
As many as 800 United fans have made the journey but they have been forced to pay substantially more than the £22 it cost Southampton followers when they played the Danish champions back in August. “So it will not be so easy to beat Midtjylland here”. “This is probably the biggest game in the history of this club”, said Thorup.
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“The travel cost is part of the trip so I don’t really bring that into the ticket money, but it’s the £49 difference that’s a bit of a joke”, said Kieran, a United fan travelling over from the UK.
