• Premier League

Falcao out for at least two weeks, says Van Gaal

Radamel Falcao has not yet completed 90 minutes in a Manchester United shirt © Getty Images

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Louis van Gaal has confirmed Radamel Falcao is at least two weeks away from returning to the Manchester United first team after the striker suffered another injury setback.

Falcao, a deadline day loan signing from Monaco, has missed United's last three Premier League matches with a calf problem and has not yet played a full 90 minutes for the club. However, Van Gaal told United's official television channel MUTV that Falcao is still not ready for action.

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"It takes time," Van Gaal told MUTV. "Next week he [Falcao] shall train, probably with our selection and then he needs two weeks and maybe a game."

The news means Falcao will sit out United's Premier League clash at Arsenal on Saturday and could miss the successive home matches against Hull and Stoke on November 29 and December 2 respectively.

Falcao, though, remains hopeful over his rehabilitation but reiterated frustration over recent reports suggesting he is struggling to regain full fitness following the serious knee injury he suffered while playing for Monaco last January.

Falcao told MUTV: "I am getting better, I feel well and I hope to come back to the pitch soon. It is disappointing that I can't play but I have to be calm and recover because that is important to help the team when I return to the games.

"It is a bit frustrating. Well, it is more than frustrating actually and it detracts from the credibility of the media that there is so much speculation and that so many falsehoods have been written about it.

"I think with an audience of so many millions of people, it is not right. I did take a small injury to my calf, which is something that I need to be careful with, but there are a lot of stories circulating that are pure speculation."

Van Gaal tells #MUTV that @Falcao "has a new injury" and is at least two weeks away from a first-team return. #mufc

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 20, 2014

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