– Where has he really become? traces The Athletic-journalist Mark Critchley.
Manchester United has been through an injury-plagued season, where there have been many disappointing results.
At the same time that the team has struggled in both the Premier League and the Champions League, many have wondered that one of manager Erik ten Hag’s first signings has not been seen either on the pitch or on the bench for the big club in the games played in 23/24.
At first there was talk of him returning last autumn. Now he will probably be gone until next autumn.
The man in question is left-back Tyrell Malacia, bought for around £17 million from Feyenoord in the summer of 2022.
Last season he played 39 games for United and was in the match squad for all but one game. In April last year, however, there were reports that the Dutchman was struggling with a bad knee, a problem he must have been struggling with for a long time, before it became known.
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– He was eager to impress and did not report the problem immediately to the club. When he finally disclosed the injury in the spring, a decision was made to treat the knee in such a way that he could continue to play, writes Critchley.
Went home to the Netherlands
The last time he was on the field for United was in the last league round last year, against Fulham. He played the whole game.
When he returned to training after the holiday, a decision was made that he would undergo surgery for the ailments.
United insisted that Malacia should be operated on by a doctor the club often uses in London, but the player himself wanted to travel to his home country of the Netherlands for the operation, so that he could choose a doctor himself to perform it.
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Thus, Manchester United basically lost control and overview of the whole thing, writes The Athletic.
Back in Manchester, work started with rehabilitation after the operation. As early as October 2023, the 24-year-old was back on the training field and training with the rest of the team. This was ahead of the Champions League meeting with FC Copenhagen.
However, further examinations of the knee should have shown that there were still small fragments of cartilage around the meniscus.
United had to make a choice and representatives of the club consulted with experts in the field. The conclusion was that they had two options: Either Malacia had to undergo another operation, or he had to continue with the rehabilitation.
The Premier League club chose the first option and in November the left-back was under the knife again. It was the same surgeon who performed the first operation who was also responsible for the second operation, but now United’s people were there to watch.
In December, it was confirmed that Malacia had undergone a successful operation and that he was expected back in early 2024.
– Rumors and conspiracy theories
When we write April 2024, the Dutchman is still without a single game for the club this season.
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– What actually counts as next year? asks The Athletic.
The website further explains that the rehabilitation has taken far more time than both expected and hoped for. While he has been out with this injury, however, both rumors and speculation have spread about his situation at the big club.
– To make matters worse, most of the information surrounding the absence has been characterized by bizarre, unimaginative and imprecise theories in social media. But despite rumours, intrigue and conspiracy theories, it is about the complications that can arise with such injuries.
Malacia herself has kept a low profile and said very little about the situation.
– Although Malacia’s rehabilitation has been of the unfortunate kind, one feels that all parties involved could have done things in a different way, to ensure that he returned from the injury at an earlier time, writes Critchley.
According to The Athletic, key people at Manchester United have questioned whether the trip to the Netherlands for the first operation was the right choice and whether correct procedures were followed when he started training without follow-up from the club.
– United have not had time
Malacia is said to have failed to contact United’s people while he was away and give them regular updates on progress.
However, sources close to Malacia tell The Athletic that the player was mostly on crutches in the time before he traveled back to England and that no significant rehabilitation work was done during this period.
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The Malacia camp suggests instead that United’s medical apparatus has at times not had time to follow up the player well enough.
Manager Erik ten Hag has said that the team has been up for internal discussion at the club. The manager said he had got the impression that both Malacia and Luke Shaw would be ready for action in January and that the loan agreement for Spanish Sergio Reguilón was therefore terminated this winter.
– I was assured that Malacia and Shaw would be back in January and that we would have two left-backs back in the squad. Then suddenly we had one too many and that had led to us constantly having to disappoint one of them, he said of the Reguilón decision.
At a press conference in February, ten Hag also commented on the situation of the compatriot.
– It will be difficult for him to come back this season. He’s going to fight. He is back on the pitch but not in the team and his process has backfired. It is progressing very slowly and the season will soon be over, said the United boss.