Injury rules French international Pogba out for ‘next few weeks’

Paul Pogba will miss Manchester United's FA Cup fifth-round clash with West Ham tonight – and the next few weeks.

The 27-year-old was forced off towards the end of the first half of Saturday's 3-3 draw against Everton with a thigh injury that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed will see him miss "a few weeks definitely".

The United boss does not expect defender Eric Bailly to be fit either, while Phil Jones has yet to feature this season due to a knee injury.

West Ham have Tomas Soucek available after the Czech midfielder's red card against Fulham was overturned.

Michail Antonio will be assessed after coming off at Craven Cottage with fatigue.

Jesse Lingard cannot play under the terms of his loan deal from United and Arthur Masuaku is around a month away from returning following knee surgery.

Meanwhile, Solskjaer admits Dean Henderson is "not the most patient guy" as ManchesterUnited'sback-upgoalkeeper continues to try and prove he is worthy of a bigger role at Old Trafford.

Havingspentloansspellsat Stockport, Grimsby, ShrewsburyandSheffieldUnited,the 23-year-old has supplanted Sergio Romero as back-up to David De Gea after impressing during two seasons with the Blades.

Henderson was rewarded with a new and improved contract upon returning to United in the summer, tying the academy graduate down until at least 2025.

The Cumbrian has since made 10 first-team appearances for United and last month admitted that "being sat on the bench is not something I want to do all the time, so that's been the hardest bit".

"Dean has done very well when he's got the chance and he'smatured,"UnitedmanagerSolskjaersaid."Forme,he's developed his game.

"I know he's not played as many games as he would've done last season, but you see every game when he plays and in training his improvement, working hard on a coupleofaspectsthatwe'vespoke about with him.

"I've been impressed with his attitude and workrate. Of course he's, how to say ... he's not the most patient guy.

"He wants to play every game because he knows that he'llperformwell,solongmay it continue because he's improved since he's come here."

Joel Asoro has left Swansea City – but Sunderland look unlikely to majorly benefit from the forward’s exit.

The youngster left the Stadium of Light following the club’s relegation to League One and joined the Swans in a deal worth up to £2million, penning a four-year-deal in South Wales.

But the 21-year-old has struggled for regular opportunities at the Liberty Stadium

and spent time on loan with Groningen in Holland and Italian side Genoa over the past two years.

And having been told his opportunities with the Championship side would be limited, Asoro has now completed a permanent exit – returning to his homeland to sign for Swedish top-flight club Djurgardens IF.

Asoro has moved for an undisclosed fee, which is not thought to be close to the sum the Swans spent to bring in the forward in 2018.

Sunderland, therefore, don’t look set to majorly benefit from any potential sell-on clause that may have been inserted into the deal.

It was not confirmed at the time of Asoro’s exit whether the Black Cats would benefit from any subsequent move for the youngster but, given that most those clauses relate to a percentage of any profit being made, it may not come into play anyway given Swansea have sold the forward at a loss.

If a fee was to be received as part of Asoro’s exit, it would likely be a small one.

This is a different scenario to that of Josh Maja, where Bordeaux would make a profit were the striker to complete a permanent move to Fulham – with Sunderland then inline to financially benefit.

Meanwhile, American investor Robert Platek looks set to add to his growing portfolio of European clubs – having previously held talks over a deal for Sunderland AFC.

Platek was one of a trio of investors who eyed a deal for the Black Cats in the autumn of 2019, joining John Phelan and Glenn Fuhrmann as part of the FPP Sunderland group.

But Platek has continued his forays into football, and looks to be establishing a multi-club ownership model on the continent. The financier purchased Danish top flight side Sønderjysk Elitesport last year and also has an interest in Portugese side Casa Pia, who play in the nation’s second tier. Now reports in Italy claim that Platek is close to finalising a deal for Serie A side Spezia – who were promoted to the Italian top flight last season.