‘Plan his game minutes’ – Van Nistelrooy provides update on defender not seen since last year

Manchester United interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has provided a fresh update on Tyrell Malacia ahead of the Europa League meeting against PAOK on Thursday night.

It feels like a lifetime since we’ve last seen Malacia in action but Van Nistelrooy confirmed that the Dutch left-back will not be rushed back into the first-team.

Malacia is likely to pick up some minutes for the U21s before he returns to competitive action with the first team. That means the decision to bring him back into the team will be up to new head coach Ruben Amorim.

United had a triple injury boost in training this morning with Antony, Christian Eriksen and Leny Yoro all taking part.

Malacia is another who was involved but he is not ready to take on PAOK tomorrow night.

As a result, United remain without a recognised left-back in the squad. Luke Shaw has been ruled out injured and has yet to return to training.

Diogo Dalot has been asked to play on his least preferred flank to fill the void.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Van Nistelrooy revealed that Malacia is back in full training with no restrictions, but he’s likely to get minutes with the U21s before appearing for the first-team again.

Van Nistelrooy said via MUTV: “Tyrell [Malacia] is fully in team training, and no restrictions, and it’s a good to plan his game minutes, maybe in the U21s.”

Tyrell Malacia on the missing list

The last time Malacia made a competitive appearance for United was May last year.

He has since recovered from knee surgery after multiple setbacks. The full-back took part in individual training sessions before resuming first team training.

However, Malacia will not be rushed back. The former Feyenoord defender is likely to feature for the youths in order to boost his fitness as well as match sharpness.

Malacia will make his long-awaited comeback once he’s 100% ready to do so. It’s the best policy to avoid further setbacks.