Wayne Rooney will miss two to four weeks with a sprained ankle sustained during Manchester United's 2-1 Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich, according to reports.
Sky Sports News claims the
England striker will be available for the World Cup, despite leaving Bayern's Allianz Arena on crutches after turning awkwardly on his right ankle in the build-up to the home side's late winner.
However, Rooney has not yet undergone a scan as United stayed the night in Munich after the game, meaning the arrive back in the North-West on Wednesday afternoon.
If confirmed, the news will come as a massive relief to England coach Fabio Capello, with Rooney's presence in the squad seen as pivotal to the nation's World Cup chances.
However, it is a crushing blow to United's hopes of silverware, with the forward set to sit out a key phase of the season. Rooney will miss Saturday's top-of-the-table Premier League clash against
Chelsea, and the return leg against Bayern.
He will also be a major doubt for the league games against
Manchester City and
Tottenham Hotspur.
After Tuesday night's game in Germany, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "He's obviously hurt his ankle, we'll know better on Wednesday. It's too early to say. I don't think it's terribly serious, but we'll wait and see."
Asked if he could feature on Saturday, Ferguson added: "I can't answer that, we need to wait until Wednesday."
The injury occurred in the centre of the pitch after slight contact with Bayern striker
Mario Gomez. Rooney went over on his ankle and leapt up in pain before collapsing to the turf in obvious discomfort.
Capello already has several injury headaches, with
David Beckham ruled out of the World Cup with a ruptured Achilles tendon, while left-back
Ashley Cole, striker
Jermain Defoe and winger
Aaron Lennon both face a race against time to recover from ankle, hamstring and groin issues respectively.
Mike Hytner / Eurosport