Tyrell Malacia has opened up on the knee problem which sidelined him for the best part of 18 months, as the Netherlands international finally closes in on a first-team return for Manchester United.
The 25-year-old had an impressive first season at Old Trafford after arriving from Feyenoord in the summer of 2022, making 39 appearances in all competitions, with 22 of those outings coming in the Premier League.
Malacia missed the entire 2023-24 campaign through injury, though, and he has also been sidelined in the early months of this season.
The left-back featured for 45 minutes against Huddersfield Town last week, though, with his first competitive football since the final game of the 2022-23 campaign coming for Man United Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.
Malacia is now close to being available for first-team selection, and the Dutchman has spoken openly for the first time about the knee injury which required two separate operations to fix.
Malacia opens up on lengthy injury absence at Man United
"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," Malacia told The Athletic.
"We had a lot of injuries and my injury needed a lot of attention. So with the medical part, at some point we decided, "OK, you need some extra people around you to help you, to be there working with you every day to focus only on you.
"I had to start my rehab over (after his second operation), basically. I had one day to be disappointed and then I had to be like, "OK, we go again".
"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.
"I think at the end of the day, everything I did, even if it was a mistake or something, I won't even see it as a mistake because it's a lesson. I think everything in life is already written for me. I had to go through this whole process to be where I'm at now, so I wouldn't do anything different.
"Of course, I've had some moments where I was like, "Oh, I'm getting tired of this". But there's no way I could ever give up. It's not my system, it's not in our family."
Could Malacia make the squad against Ipswich?
Having come through the clash with Huddersfield unscathed, it would not be a huge shock to see Malacia in the squad against Ipswich, with that match marking Ruben Amorim's first game at the helm.
However, Man United will be cautious when it comes to his return to the senior side, and he could instead play once or twice more for the Under-23s before being introduced into a first-team squad.
The Red Devils have again had issues at left-back this season, but Luke Shaw is also now back to fitness after a lengthy absence with a calf problem, and the pair could battle for the left-sided wing-back spot in a 3-4-3 formation.
