“I would buy him…” Manchester United loanee tipped for complete U-turn ‘send him back’ claims

Tyrell Malacia has been tipped for a complete U-turn in his fortunes at PSV Eindhoven despite previous claims for the Netherlands defender to be sent back to Manchester United.

Tyrell Malacia initially signed for Manchester United from Dutch side Feyenoord, with the idea being that he would challenge Luke Shaw as a left-back under Erik ten Hag.

In his maiden campaign, Malacia performed well, played 39 times and proved himself to be a fan favourite and a useful tool for then-manager Ten Hag.

However, at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, disaster struck, and Malacia underwent multiple knee surgeries, leading him to miss 17 months of action, only returning to the team once Rúben Amorim was at the helm.

Although Amorim used Malacia as a wing-back on a few occasions, ultimately, it was decided that the 25-year-old would be best returning to action elsewhere, and in January he joined PSV Eindhoven for the remainder of the campaign.

PSV have an option to buy the player for around £8.3 million at the end of the season should they want to keep him.

Malacia tipped for change of fortunes

Earlier this month, Malacia made headlines when PSV legend Rene Van de Kerkhof demanded that his former club send the defender back to Manchester United at the end of the season.

However, Dutch pundit Jan Boskamp has now advised PSV to choose the opposite path and retain the player once the season ends.

“I would buy him,” Boskamp told Dutch outlet Voetbal Primeur. “No, he is not yet the Malacia he was at Feyenoord. But that is not possible. If you have been injured for so long…” he continued.

“In the past, when I went to the doctor, he would say: if you are injured for three weeks, you have to count on double that time to get back to your level.”

Why did Malacia leave United?

Beyond his injury and return to action, Amorim explained that he felt Malacia was better off elsewhere as he does not quite fit the wing-back system that is now deployed at Old Trafford.

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“What I know is that it’s really hard on Malacia,” Amorim said in January, just days before Malacia left. “It is a long time without playing, and then it’s hard to play a lot of games.

“A player like him is a full-back. He played with the national team outside and inside, but sometimes in this system, sometimes it’s hard for him because he’s not so offensive.

“He can play as one of the three defenders, if we have more possession and more control of the games. It’s a really difficult context for him.”

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