Real Betis forward Juanmi hoping to play against Manchester United after recovering from injury

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Real Betis forward Juanmi is hoping to play against Manchester United on Saturday in a mid-World Cup friendly after recovering from injury.

Erik ten Hag‘s Red Devils face Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis in our second friendly against La Liga sides during our winter training camp in Spain.

The twenty-time league champions were beaten 4-2 by Cadiz, who sit 19th in La Liga, on Wednesday night.

Betis, who are managed by the former Manchester City and Real Madrid boss, sit sixth in the Spanish top-flight and managed to qualify for the Europa League last-16 as group winners, which is something Ten Hag’s Reds failed to do.

Real Betis forward Juanmi hoping to play against Manchester United after recovering from injury

Pellegrini could give some minutes to Los Verdiblancos’s returning forward Juanmi who has recovered from the ankle ligament injury he suffered back in August in Betis’ Europa League opener.

Betis’ number seven has revealed that he’s hoping to mark his comeback with minutes against United at the Benito Villamarin on Saturday.

Speaking via AS, the 29-year-old said: “The luck is that I have friendlies to get minutes and continuity. I don’t know if in the first or in the second, but I want to get into group dynamics, be available.

“Hopefully I can play some minutes this Saturday to catch spark, which is what makes you one hundred percent.”

Juanmi, who has been capped once for the Spanish national team, started the 2022-23 campaign where he left off last season by netting a brace in Betis’ La Liga opener.

Last season the former Southampton man scored 20 goals and laid on five assists across all competitions.

Only Raul de Tomas (17), Vinicius Junior (17), Iago Aspas (18) and Karim Benzema (27) scored more goals than Juanmi (16) in La Liga last season.

With several of United’s senior defenders still in Qatar, it’ll be a good test for some of Ten Hag’s fringe players and youngsters to test themselves against one of the best forwards in Spain if Juanmi marks his return to action against the Busby Babes.