Malacia seems to have lost his way… What’s happening to the Manchester United defender who has gone missing?

Tyrell Malacia had a great debut season in the Premier League. He did well in competition with Luke Shaw. However, in the summer came an injury that has sidelined the Dutch defender until today. However, it’s as if the earth has fallen away from Malacia.

Malacia at Manchester United

Malacia transferred to the red part of Manchester in the summer of 2022 for €15 million from Feyenoord. Erik ten Hag had him scouted from his time at Ajax, where the defender featured regularly against his Ajax side. The Dutch full-back was one of ten Hag’s first signings at Old Trafford.

However, the Dutchman envisioned his debut very differently. In his first start, he scored just one minute on the pitch, and that was still in the 1: 2 loss to Brighton. The debut in the starting line-up was perhaps even worse, Manchester United lost 0: 4 to Brentford and Malacia was substituted at half-time by that Hag.

However, in the rest of the season the left-back gradually got into form and was increasingly preferred to the injury-prone Shaw. In the end, he made 39 starts, 2,684 minutes to be precise, in which he picked up 9 yellow cards. He was to enter the new season as an equal opponent to his English counterpart.

Injuries

18. on July 2023, Tyrell Malacia picked up an unspecified knee injury. The Dutchman had to undergo surgery, after which he could subsequently begin rehabilitation. However, at the beginning of December, news came that the recovery was not going as expected and Malacia had to undergo another surgery. He reportedly used pain killers during last season in order to finish the year at all.

Malacia has completely disappeared

Malacia’s last game played was on May 28, 2023. He has been injured since then and has not appeared in a game. Interestingly, Manchester United have not released a single report about his condition all season and not a single social media post has directly related to him. No photos from his rehab, no news on his return.

Moreover, on his own instagram profile, the last post is from 15 July 2023, not a single story since then. For most injured footballers, the club will post an approximate date of return to the pitch. Tyrell Malacia had no such date and fans had no idea what was going on with him.

Is it just an injury?

So fans are starting to wonder if it is just a knee injury or something else behind Malacia’s “disappearance”?

The first statement regarding the Dutchman was made by Erik ten Hag at a press conference a few days ago, mainly thanks to a question from a journalist. “We are at a point where the situation around his return is positive. We will see him on the pitch soon. His return to team training after that will be quick”, said ten Hag.

Source: Manchester United, Premier League