Former Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe was ‘very close’ to losing thumb after freak injury

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna has disclosed that defender Axel Tuanzebe could be out for several months due to a severe home accident that nearly resulted in the loss of his thumb. The 26-year-old former Manchester United defender, who missed the 4-1 defeat to West Ham, has undergone surgery and faces a lengthy recovery period.

Kieran McKenna said, “It’s a household accident – very, very unfortunate and very, very serious. He was very close to losing his thumb. As much as it sounds a pretty innocuous body part regards the game of football, it’s a pretty important body part in human anatomy. He needs to let it recover. Of course, it’s a loss and a miss. It shows how quickly things can change in football and in life. Thankfully he’s recovering well. The timescale is not definite. It could be anything from a few months, maybe a little bit less if the recovery goes well and that’s something we’re in dialogue with different specialists on.”

Ipswich, still searching for their first win since returning to the top flight, will face Everton on Saturday. After drawing four and losing three of their first seven games, the team is looking to break their winless streak against the Toffees, who sit just one point and one place above Ipswich in 16th position. McKenna does not intend to burden his players with extra pressure.

Last season, Omari Hutchinson played predominantly on the right wing while on loan, but since his permanent transfer from Chelsea this summer for a record £18 million—a record for Ipswich—he’s been playing more centrally. During England Under-21 duty last Tuesday, Hutchinson returned to the flank and contributed to four of the goals in a dominant 7-0 victory against Azerbaijan.

When asked if Hutchinson’s performance led him to reconsider the player’s primary position,

Kieran McKenna said, “Not in Omari’s case, to be honest. He’s been here for 16 months. He made around 40 appearances for us last year, maybe 20 of them were as a right winger, maybe close to 20 were as a right 10, with a handful as a left 10. So we’ve seen Omari plenty in both positions and we’ve got a pretty clear belief in how we can make him most effective in different games and different scenarios.”