Christian Eriksen has been ruled out for three months with an ankle injury but manager Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United have the players to cope with the key midfielder's absence.
The 30-year-old has slotted into life at Old Trafford seamlessly since joining as a free agent in the summer, making 31 appearances in all competitions.
Eriksen has played a vital role as United fight on four fronts but will now have to watch from the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday’s 3-1 FA Cup win against Reading.
The club said he will be out for an "extended period" following the challenge by Andy Carroll, who was later sent off, and that "initial assessments indicate that Eriksen is likely to be out until late April or early May."
Speaking shortly after United confirmed the severity of the injury, Ten Hag said: "Of course he’s disappointed about it, we are disappointed about it.
"But it happens in top football. We sooner it (didn’t) happen but it did and you have to deal with it."
United have already lost Donny van de Beek for the remainder of the campaign and the severity of Eriksen’s injury has led onlookers to wonder whether they could act on deadline day.
"As you said, on deadline day it’s difficult," Ten Hag said.
"You can’t make policy on such bad injuries, but we have players in the midfield department and good players. We have players who can fill that gap."
Meanwhile, Mohamed Elneny has undergone surgery on a "significant" knee injury, Arsenal have confirmed.
The Egypt international suffered the injury in training ahead of the Premier League win at Tottenham earlier this month and it is understood Elneny now faces a race against time to be fit again this season.
"Following an injury sustained in a recent training session, subsequent assessments have confirmed that Mohamed Elneny has a significant injury to his right knee," a club statement read.
"Mo has had successful surgery in London and will be ruled out for an extended period of time.
"A more detailed timescale will be established once the early stages of rehabilitation have been completed.
"Everyone at the club will be offering Mo all the support he needs and working hard with him so he can return to action as soon as possible."
The 30-year-old is out of contract this summer but the Premier League leaders have an option to extend his deal by another year.
Elneny joined Arsenal seven years ago and has made 155 appearances for the Gunners.
His injury saw Arsenal target a midfielder in the January window, with Chelsea's Jorginho the name they settled on.
Liverpool have been dealt another defensive blow after centre-back Ibrahima Konate was ruled out for up to three weeks with a hamstring injury.
With Virgil van Dijk not expected to return from a similar problem for at least a fortnight, it leaves Jurgen Klopp short of options and is likely to scupper any potential deadline day move for Nat Phillips.
Konate was injured in Sunday's FA Cup exit at Brighton and it is understood he is likely to miss upcoming matches against Wolves, Everton and Newcastle, with doubts currently over whether he will be ready for the Champions League visit of Real Madrid on February 21.
Liverpool recalled 21-year-old centre-back Rhys Williams from a loan spell with Championship side Blackpool last week to cover the possibility of Phillips leaving in this window.
Phillips, 25, has made just five appearances this season and, while Liverpool had no intention of pushing him out of the door, there was a belief he could move on with a number of clubs interested in him.
However, Konate’s injury makes that scenario highly unlikely, with Joe Gomez and Joel Matip Klopp’s only two fit senior centre-backs.
