Real Sociedad midfielder Arsen Zakharyan is reportedly unavailable for their second leg clash Manchester United due to visa issues.
United host the LaLiga side at Old Trafford on Thursday night in the second leg of their Europa League last 16 clash, live on talkSPORT.
With 1-1 the aggregate score, both sides remain in contention for a place in the quarter-finals of Europe’a second-tier competition.
However, Real Sociedad look set to be without Russia international Zakharyan as he hasn’t been able to travel to the United Kingdom for the match.
According to Spanish outlet El Diario Vasco, as quoted by The Sun, the 21-year-old was in Paris on Wednesday night waiting for his visa to be cleared.
But he Zakharyan hasn’t received the necessary documents for travel and is said to be returning to Spain.
He and Hamari Traore were both in Paris hoping to resolve their visa issues, and only the latter was able to fly to England.
Zakharyan was formerly a transfer target for Chelsea, who submitted a bid to his former club Dynamo Moscow in the summer of 2023.
The transfer didn’t materialise though and he joined Real Sociedad instead, making 44 appearances in all competitions since.
A tendon tear has seen him make just four appearances this term and he wasn’t involved in the first leg against United.
Joshua Zirkzee opened the scoring for the visitors in Spain before Mikel Oyarzabal netted a second half penalty to level the tie.
Real Sociedad will make their fourth visit to Old Trafford on Thursday night, and their first since they won 1-0 in the Europa League in 2022.
Ahead of the second leg, European football expert Kevin Hatchard told talkSPORT why the Spanish outfit will be confident of victory again, saying: “Real Sociedad had big chances to win [the first leg].
“Orri Oskarsson shot wide from about seven yards out, they tested [Andre] Onana from close range. And Real Sociedad, because of the way they finished that first leg, are starting to really think they can do something.
“They won at Old Trafford in 2022 and their coach at the time, Imanol Alguacil, who is still their coach, said, ‘Look, we’ve done it once, we can do it again’.
“He said you could see the potential United have, he said you can see they’ve got structure, they’ve got physicality, we’re still in the tie, we’re calm and we’re proud of what we’ve done so far.”
The winners of United versus Real Sociedad will face either Lyon or FC Steaua Bucuresti in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte have both trained for the second leg, but Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro were absent on Wednesday.
