Ankle injury delays Wayne Rooney's 500th appearance for Manchester United

Wayne Rooney will have to wait to make his 500th appearance for Manchester United

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has confirmed that club captain Wayne Rooney is ruled out of their next two games in the coming days after suffering an ankle injury. United play their next Premier League game against West Ham United at Old Trafford on Saturday before travelling to Germany to take on Wolfsburg the Champions League on Tuesday night.

The news comes as a blow to Rooney who was looking forward to playing his 500th match in a United shirt. With the ankle injury, the England captain will have to wait at least until next weekend to play his 500th match. In 499 appearances, the 30-year-old striker has scored 237 goals for the Red Devils.

Rooney did not play the 90 minutes in United’s 1-1 draw at Leicester City. He was replaced by Memphis Depay in the 68th minute and looked to be hobbling on the touchline as the coaching staff checked on him.

“It’s a nasty injury. He shall not play his 500th game because he is more injured than I thought so we have to wait for that game,” Van Gaal explained.

“His ankle is not good enough and we have to recover that ankle with a lot of strength. He has to do a lot of exercises to make his ankle stronger. He needs more time.”

“It's been getting worse,” Van Gaal said. “We have to let him train to make the ankle stronger. He is training well in the rehabilitation.”

When asked about how long Rooney would be out, Van Gaal said: “I cannot say because the doctor shall decide that with Wayne, of course.”

Boss on Rooney: "It's more heavy than we thought and a nasty injury." More: https://t.co/SuTNThwGXQ

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 4, 2015

The crucial encounter in the Champions League will be a bigger worry for the club and the fans. United are currently second in the group – one point behind Wolfsburg. But PSV Eindhoven are a point behind United. With only two points separating the top three, the Red Devils must win the tie to keep their fate in their own hands.

If PSV Eindhoven beat CSKA Moscow, who have already been eliminated, that would see the winner of the other game going through with PSV. A draw would not do United any good in this case.

Mini-injury crisis for Manchester United

Apart from Rooney, other players in the squad are also injured. Both Ander Herrera and Phil Jones will not be available for the weekend while Van Gaal also gave an update on Marcos Rojo’s injury.

“He dislocated his shoulder which is more or less the same thing that happened last season, meaning he is out for more weeks.

“The question as to whether he shall be operated is a question for the doctor and for Marcos.”