Erik ten Hag, speaking 13 months ago, admitted at the time that he expected Tyrell Malacia to make his Manchester United return in early-2024.
By that point, the Dutch international had already missed half of the season with that troublesome knee injury.
But as Ten Hag set a ‘mid-January’ return date for Malacia, the expectation was that Manchester United’s all-action number 12 would soon be making up for lost time.
Of course, things would not be quite so simple.
An unfortunate set-back forced Tyrell Malacia to begin his rehab all over again, almost from day one onwards. And it was only this week – the Under 21s facing Huddersfield Town in the EFL Trophy – that Malacia made his long-awaited Man United comeback.
Tyrell Malacia sets Manchester United ambitions after injury return
After 17 months out, and almost year after Ten Hag hinted at his imminent return, Malacia is back at last. Back for good? Only time will tell. Niggles and strains can be expected, perhaps, after so long on the sidelines.
But, speaking to The Athletic as he opened up on his injury nightmare for the first time, the £15.7 million signing from Feyenoord admits he is determined to move forward rather than dwell on the past.
“Not a specific number. It’s just game by game,” Malacia said when asked about any targets he has set himself back in Manchester United’s first-team. “Other than [playing again], I want to bring the team back on top.
“That’s what the standard has to be at Man United. Even though it’s difficult, you always should aim for the top.”
Malacia is keen to use his trauma, meanwhile, as a force for good. His determination never to even consider backing down – giving up is an alien concept to him – an example for every player going through similar difficulties.
Injury-cursed Malacia desperate to see the positives
“[I want to prove] that everything is possible in life. That even [with] bad things in life, you shouldn’t see it as a bad thing. See it as a lesson and outgrow it,” Malacia adds.
“Sometimes when I left the club, the people outside waiting there were always positive. Especially the kids. They give me a lot of energy, always saying we want to see you back.
“That just makes me happy and gives me my drive every time. I’m not going to disappoint them.”
“I have a lot of patience but, in this process, I learned that I have more patience than every other person in the world at this moment. At the end of the day, we want to do everything right, at the right time.
“We don’t want to rush into things. It is going well, very well, now. Step by step. Maybe it went a little bit too quickly before, so we’ve learned from that.”
The last time Malacia pulled on the red of Manchester United in a Premier League fixture – the 2-1 victory over Fulham on the final day of 2022/23 – he could count David de Gea, Fred, Jadon Sancho, Jack Butland and Wout Weghorst as his teammates.
A lot has changed at Old Trafford since then.
Not only on the pitch but off it too, Erik ten Hag replaced by Ruben Amorim as Noussair Mazraoui shines in the left-back spot that Malacia hopes to make his own again.
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