Manchester United have confirmed that Tyrell Malacia has progressed his fitness programme and returned to the grass for an individual training session.
Malacia, 24, who joined United from Feyenoord for £13million plus add-ons in July 2022, made 39 appearances during his debut season at Old Trafford. However, the Dutchman did not feature for the entirety of the following campaign after undergoing knee surgery last summer. It means Malacia has not played a single minute since starting the 2-1 victory over Fulham on Sunday, May 28, 2023.
But now, there has been some encouraging news on the injury front regarding Malacia. United posted an update on the club website on Sunday morning saying that Malacia had moved forward in his return to action. He was back at Carrington for pre-season earlier this week, having worked hard during his summer off.
Malacia was spotted training individually on the grass under the guidance of medical staff, as he eyes a return to action at the start of the season. A statement from the club read: “Young left-back Malacia returned to base earlier this week, after working hard throughout his summer break.” It added: “He is doing everything he can to regain full fitness.”
United’s first friendly of the summer is against Rosenborg on Monday at 5pm BST, but Malacia is not expected to play any part. The Red Devils face Manchester City in the Community Shield at the start of August before kickstarting their Premier League campaign with the visit of Fulham.
Addressing Malacia’s situation at the end of last season, Ten Hag said: “Malacia hasn’t played a minute all season. He hasn’t even been on the training pitch once. We had recruited Malacia at the start of last season precisely as a back-up for Luke Shaw, those two options had to bring us a lot. The idea with Malacia was very good, and he just did well last season, but this season we never had him.”
If Malacia makes a full return for the start of the season, then United could have two fit left-backs with Luke Shaw featuring for England at Euro 2024. The 29-year-old could make his first start in five months when the Three Lions tackle Spain in the final in Berlin on Sunday evening.
