Tyrell Malacia has been a long-term absentee at Manchester United with a knee injury, however, Erik ten Hag rarely gives clarity on his injured players.
The Dutchman seems to adopt an approach to injuries that when it comes to the media, he prefers to keep his cards close to his head.
When it comes to Malacia, the former Feyenoord full-back had a decent debut campaign at Old Trafford and showed promise on occasions.
Malacia’s last competitive appearance came for the Netherlands in the semi-final of the UEFA Nations League in June. The Dutch lost the game 4-2 against Croatia.
However, the 24-year-old has yet to be seen this season and fans have been even more eager to hear about his return due to the lack of available left-backs in the squad.
As a result, Victor Lindelof had to be shoehorned into a full-back role against Brentford prior to the international break.
A report from the Manchester Evening News sheds some light on Malacia’s situation. It turns out the Dutch defender had knee surgery towards the back end of last season which has kept him in the treatment.
It is understood that United initially used short-term methods to tackle Malacia’s problem, with pain-killing injections, but it quickly became apparent that surgery was required. Otherwise the Netherlands international would never fully heal from the knee injury.
Malacia has continued his recovery in the Netherlands and there is an expectation that he could return for United before the new year.
Ten Hag will hope that Sergio Reguilon is closer to a return and the same goes for Luke Shaw.
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