Tyrell Malacia is the only member of the infamous “Bomb Squad” to have remained at Manchester United beyond the summer.
Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Antony were all offloaded before the end of the transfer window, either on loan or in permanent exits.
Malacia was in talks to join Elche in his loan move, but it fell through on transfer deadline day after United insisted on including a clause to make the deal permanent next summer.
Eyüpspor attempted to secure a loan deal before the end of the window in Turkey, but the move failed to materialise as well.
Malacia ended up staying at the Theatre of Dreams, initially training with the Under-21s, and his teammates were reportedly left impressed with his efforts. The player has since been reintegrated into the first team.
An injury-ravaged time at Old Trafford
Malacia joined United in the summer of 2022 from Feyenoord and was former manager Erik ten Hag’s first signing at Old Trafford.
He registered 39 appearances across competitions in his debut campaign and then missed the entire 2023/24 season with a knee injury. By the time he returned in November last year, Ten Hag had vacated his position and Ruben Amorim had taken over.
Malacia featured eight times under the Portuguese head coach, starting five of them. However, Patrick Dorgu’s arrival made him surplus to requirements, and the player moved to PSV Eindhoven on a season-long loan in the winter.
Malacia managed just 12 appearances for the Eredivisie side, who opted not to sign him permanently this summer.
The Dutchman is yet to make an appearance for United this season, and it now seems likely that his time at Old Trafford could come to an end next year.
Malacia will leave in 2026
Malacia’s contract with the Premier League giants expires at the end of this season. Speaking on his YouTube channel, acclaimed journalist Fabrizio Romano said that Malacia will not be extending his stay at Old Trafford.
“Tyrell Malacia, despite returning to training with the first team of Manchester United after a crazy window where he had several opportunities, Tyrell Malacia is not going to sign any new contract at Man United, and in any case, will leave the club for sure, 100% in 2026,” said Romano.
Malacia is likely to struggle to find game time this season, especially since there’s no European football and United are already out of the EFL Cup. Amorim already has Dorgu and Diogo Dalot for the role, while Luke Shaw can also operate in the position if required.
The Dutchman, meanwhile, is predominantly a full-back, and many would argue that he isn’t a good fit in Amorim’s system, which demands a lot of attacking impetus from wing-backs. For the record, Malacia hasn’t made any goal-scoring contributions during his 47-game stint with the Premier League giants.
As things stand, the Red Devils are unlikely to miss the Dutchman if he departs at the end of the season. Amorim might be tempted to sign a new left wing-back next summer to maintain his squad depth, however.
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United fan since 2000. In his playing days, he was an attacking midfielder with a proclivity for the back heel. Right now, however, he prefers to operate as a regista. Deepungsu has been writing about the Red Devils, Football, and other things since 2009. He has worked for over seven years with Sportskeeda, writing football reviews, opinions and news articles. Deepungsu also maintains a blog, The Thinking Me, where he writes about life and things that interest him. His favourite Manchester United player is Paul Scholes.
