Ruben Amorim could add three players to his strongest Man United XI before the end of the season

If Manchester United play their cards right in the Europa League and reach a first European final since 2017 next month, they still have another 12 games left this season.

With United's domestic campaign petering out, highlighted by the lacklustre nature of Sunday's 0-0 draw with Manchester City at Old Trafford, full focus has to be on the Europa League for head coach Ruben Amorim and his players.

They face Lyon in the first leg of their quarter-final showdown in France on Thursday night and Amorim will be hoping it is the first of five Europa League games before the curtain comes down on the 2024/25 campaign next month.

If United are to navigate their way through 12 more fixtures between now and May 25, Amorim will need as many options available to him as possible. Luke Shaw was the latest returnee to the squad on Sunday, making the squad for the first time since December 1.

Having been in with a chance of making the squad against City, Kobbie Mainoo could be the next absentee to come back into the equation. He has been absent since United's 2-1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup on February 7, missing 10 games, but Amorim said in his pre-match press conference on Friday that he was in with a chance of making the squad for the visit of Pep Guardiola's side.

"I think Kobbie is returning to training, so we will see, we will assess for this game," he said. "He cannot play a full game, it's a long time without training."

Amorim's update on Mainoo's situation suggests it might not be very long before he is back in contention, perhaps as soon as Thursday night. Of course, he will need time and minutes to get back into any sort of rhythm, but once he is back up to speed, he could quickly force his way back into the head