![Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia](/content/dam/football/2024/08/02/TELEMMGLPICT000386620793_17225851279090_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqlatmTmLSMPfkvdo1zaHFuinuamyPasN5nRPY_hZF2Ig.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Man Utd’s Tyrell Malacia still two months away from returning from serious injury
Dutch left-back had been scheduled for comeback in January this year after knee surgery but serious setback continues to blight recovery
![Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia](/content/dam/football/2024/08/02/TELEMMGLPICT000386620793_17225851279090_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqlatmTmLSMPfkvdo1zaHFuinuamyPasN5nRPY_hZF2Ig.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia is unlikely to be ready to play again for another two months, according to manager Erik ten Hag.
Malacia missed the entirety of last season with a serious knee injury that required surgery and has not been part of United’s tour party in the US.
The Netherlands defender had been set to return in January but suffered a setback in his recovery and Ten Hag says he does not expect to have the player back until October.
“He is now in a good place, but he is not here because I only took players who could play games or be available for team training,” Ten Hag said. “He is not that far, but he is now in a progress situation.
“At a relatively short notice, he can again return into team training and then into team performance in games. I think it would be possible in two months.”
With Malacia still sidelined and Luke Shaw having endured his own fitness problems, United have not ruled out trying to recruit another left-back before the close of the transfer window on Aug 30.
Their focus in the full-back position at the moment, though, appears to be trying to sell right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka in order to be able to bring in the Morocco international Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich.
A deal with West Ham for Wan-Bissaka is said to be inching closer although the London club are still way apart on agreeing personal terms with the player.
Yoro injury
While bitterly disappointed that Leny Yoro has been ruled out for three months after fracturing a metatarsal in his left foot against Arsenal, United are trying to take some positives from the situation.
Staff believe the lay-off will at least afford their new £59 million signing some more time to adjust to life at the club and familiarise himself with new surroundings in Manchester.
![Leny Yoro of Manchester United in action during a first team training session as part of their pre-season tour of the USA at UCLA on July 26, 2024 in Los Angeles, California](/content/dam/football/2024/08/02/TELEMMGLPICT000386946998_17225863718320_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqLeUJvOJqnV613e1NxllMSQQ9-W92tdK6JGsXq-YKMZA.jpeg?imwidth=350)
No-one at Old Trafford is pretending the circumstances are ideal but the hope is the 18-year-old will have had time to get his feet under the table ready to hit the ground running in November when he is due back.
United think the injury was caused during an innocuous tangle with Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus when he was holding him off the ball. There were no concerns from the players or United’s management about the pitch.
Hojlund humour
Yoro has not been United’s only injury victim in the US. Rasmus Hojlund has been sidelined for six weeks with a hamstring problem suffered in the same 2-1 defeat to Arsenal but the popular Denmark striker has been wasting no time trying to regain fitness. Hojlund posted a picture on himself in a Therabody cryotherapy chamber and has clearly not lost his sense of humour either, despite the frustration of knowing he will miss the opening weeks of the new season. “Don’t worry,” Hojlund said on Instagram. “In Scandinavia we call this summer.”
Execs visible
Communication may have broken down and relations become strained between Erik ten Hag and United’s hierarchy in the final months of last season but it has been a very different picture here in the US. United’s new sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and club director Sir Dave Brailsford have all been eating together at the same time with Ten Hag, his staff and the playing squad in another sign of the coming together behind the scenes.
Round tables ditched
On the subject of meal times, it was customary on these tours in the past for the players to eat at round tables. But the same groups ended up congregating on the same tables so, in the interests of ensuring the squad all mix together, the players now eat at one long table.
Fletcher’s sons
Jack Fletcher, the 17-year-old son of United’s first team coach and former midfielder Darren, is among the young players on the club’s tour of the US and is said to be enjoying himself. Jack’s physical development is more advanced than that of his twin brother Tyler, who was also injured for most of last season and suffered a setback when he first returned. Tyler is fit again now, though, and with the academy in a youth tournament in Zagreb.