Ex-Man United ace suffers freak injury while washing dishes and ‘almost loses his thumb’

A former Manchester United ace looks set to miss his team's coming Premier League matches after suffering a freak accident doing household chores.

Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe was unavailable for last weekend's 4-1 defeat to West Ham — a result that left Kieran McKenna's team in 17th place in the table and without a win since their promotion back to the top flight.

Speaking after that match at London Stadium, McKenna — a former assistant coach at United — said Tuanzebe had suffered a "very unfortunate accident".

He added: "He's naturally a miss with the way he's started the season. He's going to be out for a little while."

The reason behind his injury has now apparently become clear. According to BBC Sport , and as reported widely elsewhere in the U.K., Tuanzebe required emergency surgery after cutting himself while doing the dishes.

MORE: All the latest Man Utd news | Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings

What happened to Axel Tuanzebe?

Tuanzebe reportedly suffered a bad cut to his hand from a broken glass that smashed while he was washing dishes. There was apparently concern he could even lose his thumb due to the severity of the wound, although swift medical attention was able to repair the damage.

The 26-year-old had started all six of Ipswich's first league games this season prior to missing the West Ham game.

Tuanzebe has largely enjoyed a positive time at Portman Road since signing on a free transfer last September. The Man United academy graduate had previously had a difficult couple of years at Aston Villa, Napoli and Stoke City on loan spells after falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford.

The DR Congo international made 37 competitive appearances for United following his debut in January 2017.