Possible date for Argentina World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez and France star Raphael Varane to return to Manchester United team with both missing Nottingham Forest clash

Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane will both miss Manchester United’s first Premier League game back against Nottingham Forest.

Both reached the World Cup final, with Martinez’s Argentina defeating Varane’s France on penalties, as Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the ultimate prize.

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Varane lasted 133 minutes, before he was replaced by Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate for the remainder of the match.

Martinez, meanwhile, was a substitute, but did make five appearance for his country in the Gulf State.

According to The Telegraph, the pair will not only miss the Red Devils’ Carabao Cup clash with Burnley on Wednesday night, but also the Boxing Day fixture against Nottingham Forest.

The report adds that Erik ten Hag ‘is using a team of specialist mind coaches in an attempt to limit the threat of Manchester United’s World Cup players suffering any mental hangover from the tournament.’

United face Wolves at Molineux on New Year’s Eve and the World Cup duo are likely to be in contention to play.

The club’s England contingent of Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford are expected to return to training this week.

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Brazil international Antony has already returned to first-team training, after his country was eliminated at the quarter-final stage.

Christian Eriksen was one of the first to arrive back at United’s Carrington training base, after Denmark’s early exit from the competition.

It is likely that full-back Tyrell Malacia could be in contention for an early return to the side, having not played a minute of Netherlands’ campaign in the Middle East.

Ten Hag is likely to hand several of the club’s academy stars the chance to shine on Wednesday for the visit of Vincent Kompany’s Burnley.

Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage, and Charlie McNeill all missed out, as United’s Under-21s were beaten 2-0 by PSV Eindhoven on Monday night, suggesting the trio could start against the Clarets.

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