Quinton Fortune’s Manchester United future could be in doubt after the South Africa international was referred to a specialist in a bid to discover why a knee injury is not healing.
Fortune (28) has not played since he came on as a substitute for John O’Shea in the FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal at the end of last season.
He had knee surgery in July after damaging cartilage during pre-season training and United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he is concerned that Fortune is still not back in action, five months later.
”It’s not clearing up to be frank and it’s a concern for us all,” Ferguson told Manchester United radio. ”We’re going to get another opinion to decide whether he should go to someone he knows in Spain or go America to see [renowned knee specialist Dr Richard] Steadman.”
”It started off with a simple operation on the cartilage,” Ferguson said. ”What happened was that he got a bit of calcification in the front of his knee and it got worse. He had a small operation to clear the calcification, but it keeps coming back.
”All in all, it has been a frustrating and serious injury and we just can’t get to the bottom of it as to why this calcification keeps coming.
”We thought he’d be back in a month but he is still injured and it’s disappointing.”
Fortune has suffered a frustrating run of injuries since he moved to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in 1999.
United have won three Premiership titles since then, but Fortune has only once made enough appearances to pick up one winners’ medal.
Initially recruited as a winger, the Cape Town-born player has demonstrated sufficient versatility to operate at both left-back and in the middle of midfield, where he looked set for a protracted run in the team before breaking a leg in December 2002.
This season’s injuries have been particularly frustrating for player and club, as Fortune would have been sure of a lengthy run at left-back following the serious knee injury suffered by Argentinian Gabriel Heinze. — Sapa-AFP