Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has issued an update regarding Tyrell Malacia’s return to first-team action following a lengthy period on the sidelines.
Malacia, who signed from Eredivisie side Feyenoord in 2022 for around £15 million, has not played for the Premier League club since undergoing surgery on a knee injury last summer.
Having last featured for United in their 2-1 victory over Fulham on Sunday, May 28, 2023, it looked like Erik ten Hag was expecting Malacia to return to first-team action in January.
But after his recovery process suffered “some setbacks”, he missed the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign.
Now, it appears the full-back is making good progress as he continues to work on an individual fitness programme under the close supervision of Manchester United’s medical team at Carrington.
In fact, Ten Hag expects Malacia to return in October, which will come as a huge relief given Luke Shaw‘s fitness issues over the past year.
“He is now in a good place, but he is not here because I only took players who could play games or be available for team training,” Ten Hag said on United’s pre-season tour of the US.
“He is not that far, but he is now in a progress situation. At a relatively short notice, he can again return into team training and then into team performance in games. I think it would be possible in two months.”
United recently said that Malacia is doing ‘everything he can’ to regain full fitness ahead of the 24/25 campaign, although they have not ruled out bringing another left-back to the club this summer.
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