Forgotten Man Utd star absent for start of pre-season alongside wantaway Jadon Sancho

The future of Manchester United's Tyrell Malacia remains uncertain as he was noticeably absent from the start of pre-season training.

Malacia, a former Feyenoord defender, was Erik ten Hag's first signing for United when he joined in the summer of 2022. Despite making 39 appearances in his debut season in England, an injury-ridden second year saw him fail to make a single appearance.

Pre-season training for United kicked off this week, but not all players have returned. Those who participated in Euro 2024 or the Copa America have been granted additional time off, even if their teams have already been knocked out of the tournaments.

This means players like Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot have extra recovery time. However, Malacia is not part of the Dutch squad and he and Jadon Sancho were the only senior players missing when the squad reconvened.

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While Sancho's future at Old Trafford is uncertain after spending last season on loan at Borussia Dortmund, there have been no rumors linking Malacia with a move away.

Instead, it is understood that he requires more time to recover from his latest injury setback. The left-back has undergone a lengthy rehabilitation process following surgeries to treat a knee injury.

His last appearance for the first team was on the final day of the 2022-23 season, and Ten Hag noted that Malacia hadn't even made it onto the training ground last term.

The United boss said: "We had recruited Malacia at the start of last season precisely as a back-up for Luke Shaw, those two options had to bring us a lot. The idea with Malacia was very good, and he just did well last season, but this season we never had him."

The absence of Malacia last season was further complicated by Luke Shaw's injury woes. The England international only managed 12 league appearances last term and last featured for United in February, when he played 45 minutes against Luton in the Premier League. However, he was deemed fit enough to be included in England's Euro 2024 squad, and made a return from the bench against Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool.com says: Malacia is something of a forgotten man at Old Trafford after his injury issues but will be eager to make his mark when he returns to fitness. That is probably still some way off after he missed the start of pre-season though as he continues his recovery from surgery.