Revealed: Why Tyrell Malacia wasn’t involved for Manchester United U21s vs Altrincham

Tyrell Malacia was not involved for Manchester United’s under-21s side during their 4-0 win against Altrincham in the National League Cup.

Malacia, 25, played 45 minutes for Manchester United’s U21s last week against Huddersfield Town in his first competitive game for around 18 months.

The defender suffered a really difficult series of knee issues, including two operations, which has ruled him out since the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

He was sighted in Ruben Amorim’s opening training session on Monday afternoon as he comes closer to full fitness.

However, it has been stressed by those within the club that they will be taking the left-back’s reintegration seriously and he won’t be rushed back into the first-team.

This made it seem like further action for the Under-21s would be expected in the coming weeks to get the 25-year-old more action on the pitch.

Various reports had suggested that Malacia would be involved in the National League Cup fixture against Altrincham on Tuesday evening.

However, in the end, Malacia was not involved in the cup clash which left some fans curious about his situation.

Before the teams were released, AcademyScoop reported that Malacia was involved once again with United’s first-team session at Carrington on Tuesday afternoon, which made his involvement in the Under-21s fixture unlikely.

That ended up being the case, and with some nasty challenges from the National League side throughout the game, it might have been the right decision.

Whether those at Old Trafford might’ve been wary of Altrincham’s physical nature is unknown. Amorim could be wanting to see as much as possible of the talent in the first-team squad, especially with various players still away with their international teams.

During the game, Ethan Ennis scored an excellent hat-trick, while Amir Ibragimov netted once, to secure the victory as United moved top of their group.

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