Manchester United injury news: Ibrahimovic and Pogba pushing for first-team place against Newcastle United

Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are said to have returned to full training with the Manchester United first-team and are now eager to return to action at the earliest.

The former has been sidelined for the last nine weeks with a hamstring injury he picked up during United's win over FC Basel in the Champions League on 12 September, while the latter has been out for the last seven months with a knee injury sustained at the end of last season.

Pogba has missed United's last 12 games across all competitions and his absence has been crucial for the Red Devils as they have struggled to break down teams without his influence in the midfield. The France international spent a fair chunk of his rehabilitation time in the United States before returning to United's Carrington training complex for the final phase of his recovery.

The 24-year-old trained with the United reserves at the start of the current international break, but is said to have returned to first-team training. Reports have suggested that he is close to making a comeback but the medical staff is still wary of rushing his return owing to the fear of a setback.

Ibrahimovic, on the other hand, has not played for over seven months and only recently returned to training with the ball. The Swedish striker sustained knee ligament injury in April and underwent surgery before the start of the current campaign.

According to the Sun, Pogba and Ibrahimovic are keen to get back into the first-team fold after returning to training and are said to be pushing Jose Mourinho for a place on the bench when Newcastle United visit Old Trafford on Saturday (18 November). It is a crucial next one month for United as they also face Arsenal and Manchester City on 2 and 10 December respectively.

Pogba is certainly closer and could push for an inclusion, but it is unlikely that Ibrahimovic will be included as he lacks match fitness owing to his lengthy absence. The Portuguese manager is expecting the latter to return before the end of the year , but it is unlikely to be before next month.

Marcos Rojo, meanwhile, made a successful comeback with the reserve side on Wednesday (15 November) after he played 45 minutes in the United Under-23 side's win over Athletic Club in the Premier League International Cup.

The Argentine defender suffered a similar injury to Ibrahimovic and has not played for seven months, but came through unscathed after 45 minutes of action. The former Sweden international could follow the same path in order to build match fitness before returning to the first-team fold.