Sport

Bruno Fernandes out for ‘at least a month’ following Aston Villa injury

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 22nd December 2025

Less than ideal news for Manchester United fans as first-team star Bruno Fernandes is reportedly out for “at least a month.”

Reds can consider that akin to a lump of coal in their Christmas stockings.

Man United lost 2-1 to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday night despite a good performance, and certainly missed their creative spark in the middle of the park when Bruno Fernandes was forced off at the break.

Supporters in the away end and watching at home were no doubt looking through their fingers as they saw him pull up out of the blue and let the ball go out of play, especially given the fact that he never missed a game through injury.

To put things into context, Fernandes has played more matches than any top-level football player in Europe in the last three years (approximately 6,343 minutes – yes, really), so not only is it usually taken as read that he’ll start, but seeing their midfield talisman pull up mid-game was obviously a worry.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fans immediately feared the worst as he had to stop moving and signal to the bench on multiple ocassions towards the end of the first half, and although it couldn’t certainly be worse, The Telegraph is now reporting that Fernandes has injured his “soft tissue” and faces at least a month on the sidelines.

The exact nature of the damage and the precise window he is expected to spend on the sidelines is yet to be fully confirmed by the club, but it seems likely that he’s latest to find his way onto the physio bench with a muscle problem.

ADVERTISEMENT

Safe to say that it comes at a rather unfortunate time in the season, not only with three important players missing on AFCON duty, but with his supposed ‘like-for-like’ positional replacement, Kobbie Mainoo, seemingly having picked up an issue as well.

It still remains to be seen, however, just how serious the young Stockport-born star is injured for.

As the Portuguese captain, you can see the moment he suddenly pulled up and had to stop play – before ultimately seeing out the 45 – here:

ADVERTISEMENT

His compatriot Ruben Amorim was in no doubt that he would “lose some games”, but did play down that “nobody is going to die.”

The manager is still struggling to pick up points and still has the worst win percentage stat looming for the time being.

It doesn’t help that his now diminished squad have a tough game against Newcastle United coming up on Boxing Day; it’ll be interesting to see how the Red Devils head into 2026.

You can watch the highlights from Aston Villa vs Man United down below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT4Sbi0tdJU&t=218s

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Manchester United/MUTV (screenshot via YouTube)

Sport

RFL give the go-ahead for a new Salford rugby league team

Danny Jones Danny Jones New Salford rugby league Championship team in 2026

The Rugby Football League (RFL) have given the go-ahead for a new Salford rugby league team in the New Year.

Rejoice, Salfordians – the Red Devils as you know them might be done, but it looks like a Phoenix is rising very soon.

This news comes after Salford Red Devils were sadly liquidated at the start of December, winding up the club after 152 years.

However, following a consortium bid led by a former player, it now looks as though the local community will be starting a new sporting era in 2026. You can read the RFL’s statement in full down below.

As you can see, the English governing body has agreed to grant the new Salford-based rugby league team Championship status in time for the start of next season.

The Red Devils were officially relegated back in October, following months of uncertainty surrounding their unpaid debts and having to rely on loan players to field squads.

It’s unclear whether the new Salford side will carry on under the well-established brand and logo, or whether they fresh start will include a new Greater Manchester moniker.

There is, of course, an obvious choice as retired winger Mason Caton-Brown has been confirmed as one of at least three key investors following his ‘Phoenix Bid’ to resurrect the club earlier this month.

Speaking in an official press release, Caton-Brown stated, “This is for the fans. They are the heartbeat of this club. Today’s announcement is the result of countless hours of hard work, honesty, and unity. We’re incredibly proud to bring rugby league back home to Salford. But now the hard work really begins.”

Following the official announcement on Monday (22 Dec), fan group The 1873 have now expressed their gratitude and support regarding the new investment, adding: “The strength of this club has always been its people and that must remain true in this new chapter.”

Caton-Brown had already insisted that the new leadership group had reached multiple pre-contract agreements with players and a new head coach.

Meanwhile, ex-Salford Red Devils stars Paul Rowley and Adam Sidlow have now joined the coaching staff at St Helens.

While it’s obviously a big result to be gearing up just a few weeks after seemingly folding as a competitive side, the owners are now racing to get a full squad ready to face Oldham in their season opener on 16 January.

The 32-year-old went on to add: “The next month will be crucial. We’re asking supporters to stand together with us, to get behind the rebuild, to volunteer, to spread the word, and to help us make sure Salford rises again stronger than ever.” Happy, Salfordians?

Elsewhere, the national rugby community are similarly uniting to give a Super League legend some long overdue recognition…

Brits are petitioning to give ‘SIR’ Kevin Sinfield the knighthood he deserves

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Anthony Parkes (via Geograph)/Publicity picture (supplied)

Sport

Nathan Aspinall urges PDPA to improve mental health support within the sport

Danny Jones Danny Jones Nathan Aspinall calls for more mental health support in darts

Local sports personality Nathan Aspinall has urged the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) to provide better mental health support moving forward.

It’s not the first time ‘The Asp’ has called for more awareness and provision when it comes to player welfare and mental wellbeing, specifically, which remains a prevailing societal problem in general.

The Greater Manchester native has opened up about his own struggles many times in the past and has made a public plea for the PDPA to intervene and offer more help.

Speaking at the 2026 PDC World Darts Championships after his opening round victory, the 34-year-old instead chose to focus on more important issues than his strong start.

As you can see, Aspinall began by stating that “the PDPA now need to step in and help these guys because there’s a lot of guys suffering.”

Having long been an champion for male mental health, in particular – supporting the local Healthy Minds practices in his hometown of Stockport, for instance – he’s been one of the outspoken player on the subject for some time.

Noting that there are at least “two or three people” he refused to name, his message was simple: “There’s a lot of fantastic dart players in our sport, but it’ll be a shame to see so many of them go because of mental health”

The 2019 UK Open and 2023 World Matchplay winner has battled with multiple obstacles, including an ocular condition known as bilateral traumatic Brown’s syndrome, as well bursitis, which causes inflammation around key joints.

But it’s not necessarly injuries and the physical side of things that have been his biggest concern.

One of the biggest and most recurring challenges for him has been ‘dartitis’, which many players within the discipline wrestle with the more their careers progress.

Aspinall has confessed to suffering almost chronic panic attacks due to the mental blocks (also commonly known as ‘the yips’) brought about by the intense pressure of playing on stage/live on TV.

With that in mind, it’s great to see him not only back on form and pulling impressive performance such as his ‘big fish’ finish on Friday night, but continuing to draw more attention to the underlying mental health crisis, especially among men. Well played, Nath.

You can watch his post-match interview in full down below.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Sandro Halank (via Wikimedia Commons)/Live Darts (screenshot via YouTube)

More Sport

Sign up for Great Manchester Run place in 2026

City Centre

Be part of the biggest Great Manchester Run ever

Shopping

Wigan Warriors finally reveal next season’s kits following update on delayed release

Macclesfield FC player dead after car crash

Cheshire

Macclesfield FC player Ethan McLeod tragically killed in car crash

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches