Tyrell Malacia yet to recover from knee injury, no fixed timeline regarding return

Left-back was a position of real concern for Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag last season and there are plans to rectify this moving forward.

Luke Shaw had missed 36 games last term, and is yet to start a game for England in the European Championships. However, he is hopeful of earning minutes in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

The Englishman’s absence would not have been a major loss if Tyrell Malacia would have been available. However, the Dutch full-back missed the entire campaign due to a knee injury.

He was bought specifically keeping Shaw’s injury-prone nature in mind when Ten Hag took charge with the former Feyenoord star enjoying a fine debut campaign.

Malacia problems continue

His issues arose before pre-season last summer and the initial thought was that he would be back soon. However, due to United’s incompetence coupled with mental struggles, the 24-year-old failed to make it back in time.

Pre-season training ahead of the new season began on Monday with stars not involved in international duty with their countries all reporting for duty.

Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood were conspicuous by their absence but United have their reasons for allowing the duo to stay away from Carrington. The England internationals are likely to be moved on this summer.

However, Malacia was once again absent from training with The Manchester Evening News revealing that no definite timeline has been revealed regarding his possible return.

“Tyrell Malacia is continuing his recovery from a knee injury but there is no timeframe on his return to training with Manchester United.

“Left-back Malacia was absent from the collection of training ground images shared by Manchester United on Monday. Hehas not played for United for over a year, last featuring on the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season due to a knee injury that required two rounds of surgery.”

This throws doubt into his participation during pre-season matches this time around as well with the 20-time English league champions beginning their tour with a game against Rosenborg in Trondheim on Monday.

With Shaw likely to be given an extended break following his Euro exertions, United once again face the prospect of starting the season without a specialist left-back.

United need help at LB

Last season, the manager turned to Diogo Dalot, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof and Sofyan Amrabat to play in that position due to a lack of options.

Sergio Reguilon had arrived on loan, but it was terminated in January when both Shaw and Malacia looked to be close to returning to fitness. That proved to be a major faux pas in the end.

United are eyeing reinforcements at left-back keeping Malacia’s condition in mind, with the Spaniard once again linked with a shock return while Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell is also a target.

In fact, United could be ready to move on Ten Hag’s first signing if his condition does not improve moving forward with swap deals also mooted.

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