Tyrell Malacia’s long-term absence finally explained as Man United full-back’s return date revealed

Tyrell Malacia has been unavailable for Manchester United so far this season and until now, there have been minimal updates on his absence.

The left-back was left out of the squad to travel to the United States on the summer tour and it was confirmed by Erik ten Hag that it would ‘take some time’ until he returned at the beginning of the season.

United were forced into signing Sergio Reguilon on a loan deal on deadline day after Luke Shaw also suffered a long-term injury.

It has since been revealed by the Manchester Evening News that Malacia has been recovering from surgery after a knee injury he sustained last season.

It was added that the club initially looked to manage the defender’s problems with pain injections, but surgery was eventually required.

Malacia’s last appearance came on June 14 as the Netherlands were defeated in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League against Croatia, with the left-back playing the final 15 minutes of the game.

This news comes shortly after reports confirming that United have launched a club investigation into the injury crisis at the moment to see if they can identify any patterns with the injuries that have occurred so far.

The aforementioned report added that Malacia was on crutches after his injury and spent time in the Netherlands to recover. It is expected that he will return and be available before the New Year.

Reguilon has also spent time out of the team already with an injury, which meant that new signing Sofyan Amrabat needed to fill in at left-back in his first three starts for the club.

The Spaniard is expected to be available after this international break against Sheffield United and that will solve a problem for Ten Hag.

But the manager will be awaiting the returns of Malacia and Shaw too, as well as other players unavailable such as Lisandro Martinez and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.