Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho lashes out over Chris Smalling reports

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has refused to discuss Chris Smalling's fitness after it was claimed the centre-half has suffered a broken toe.

Smalling missed United's 3-1 win over Swansea City (on 6 November) prior to the international break having informed his manager before the match he was not fit enough to start. That decision appeared to irk Mourinho, who suggested after the game both Smalling and Luke Shaw, who also told his manager he was not in condition to play, were not ready to play through the pain barrier for the good of the team.

The situation became more uncertain when reports emerged one week ago claiming former Fulham defender Smalling had suffered a broken toe in a training session with United during the international break, ruling him out of the clash with Arsenal on Saturday.

While Mourinho opted to clear the air over Shaw's condition during a press conference on Friday, he was less willing to discuss his centre-half.

When asked about Smalling, Mourinho responded: "Chris Smalling you cannot ask [about], you cannot ask because you have your sources, you trust your sources, you believe in your sources, you write what your sources tell and you did that for 15 days."

He continued: "I don't say a word about Chris Smalling. I don't say a word. You have your sources. You do the big headlines with your sources and now I'm not interested in commenting on that."

United are already without Eric Bailly at centre-half with the Ivory Coast international sidelined with a knee ligament injury. Antonio Valencia is also recovering from surgery having suffered a fractured arm in late October, leaving Mourinho without three of his first-choice back four for the visit of Arsene Wenger's side.