Erik ten Hag justifies shock transfer decision & gives Luke Shaw & Tyrell Malacia injury updates

Erik ten Hag seemed to point the finger of blame at Manchester United’s medical department on Friday as the Dutchman revealed he may have to proceed without a left-back for the remainder of the campaign.

The position on the left side of defence has been a problem area for United this season with Tyrell Malacia missing the entire term through an injury sustained in July, while Luke Shaw has played just 15 of the club’s 38 games so far in 2023/24. As a result, Victor Lindelof, Diogo Dalot, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Sofyan Amrabat have all been deployed in that role at various stages this season, as has Sergio Reguilon, who was signed in a deadline-day loan to cover for the injured Shaw and Malacia.

But the Spaniard, having started just four Premier League games, was surprisingly sent back to parent club Tottenham Hotspur in January as United anticipated the imminent returns of Malacia and Shaw. Yet, neither is currently available and Reguilon has played the last six games at Brentford, having completed a second short-term deal of the season when he joined the Bees during the winter transfer window.

Speaking on Friday, Ten Hag insisted the decision to send Reguilon back to Spurs was correct at the time, based on the advice he was given.

“In December, I had the talks internally, with the medical and performance [staff],” he explained. “They assured me they will both be fit in January and so you will have two left full-backs. Then you have a third one, so I would always have to disappoint one full-back.”

United’s handling of medical matters has been an issue throughout the campaign, with Malacia and Shaw not the only players struggling with elongated or recurring problems, while there have been 48 separate injuries this season. Gary O'Driscoll took over as head of sports medicine in September and a report in the Daily Mail claimed he was tasked with overhauling many of the club’s ‘outdated’ practices, and with hiring new staff.

As for the ongoing left-back situation, Ten Hag revealed ahead of Saturday’s game against Everton that he does not expect to have Malacia available for the remainder of the season.

“I think it's going to be difficult for him this season to be available. He will fight, he's back on the pitch, but not in the team and the process had some setbacks for him and he's still going forwards really slowly, and the season is coming to an end.”

As for Shaw, Ten Hag said: “I think it's the same, maybe for the last games of the season, but we don't expect him back this or next month.

“We talk about one of my biggest frustrations, there,” he added. “You can accept in a position that a player is not available, but when two players are not available over the course of the season, that is very frustrating, because that is also very difficult to catch up as a team but we dealt with it in the best way, but of course it is a disadvantage.”