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Tyrell Malacia ended 17 months of injury woe as he returned to action in Manchester United Under-21 side’s EFL Trophy tie with Huddersfield Town.
Left-back Malacia has been sidelined since coming on as substitute in the Netherlands’ Nations League final defeat by Croatia in June 2023.
Since then, the 25-year-old has had two lots of knee surgery as an injury proved far more complicated than initially thought and one planned comeback in February had to be scrapped.
Malacia made 39 appearances for United in 2022-23, his first season at the club.
In front of technical director Jason Wilcox, head of academy Nick Cox and first-team coach Darren Fletcher, Malacia completed the opening 45 minutes before being replaced by Harry Amass.
The £13m signing from Feyenoord largely played within himself. After 15 minutes he went on his first surging run down the left side before turning to play the ball backwards.
He settled into the game and gave Rhys Healey a friendly tap as he ran past following one physical tussle that ended with the Huddersfield forward being wrestled to the ground. Huddersfield won the game 4-1.
It remains to be seen how quickly Malacia can return to first-team duties after his lengthy absence. United’s Under-21s have another outing in the National League Cup at Altrincham on 19 November.
Malacia’s appearance came on the day new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United’s senior squad at the club’s Carrington training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all doing rehabilitation work on their various injuries when Amorim walked in.
It is likely to be next week before Amorim does any serious training work. His fit non-international players have been given some time off while the majority of his international players will not return until the middle of next week, meaning there will be limited preparation time for Amorim’s opening match in charge at Ipswich Town on 24 November.
