Matthijs de Ligt has been sidelined since November and Michael Carrick admits Manchester United’s season could be over as he struggles to regain fitness.
Matthijs de Ligt will not play in 2026 due to injury (Image: Getty Images)
Michael Carrick has revealed that Matthijs de Ligt may not play again for Manchester United this season as his injury problems continue.
The Dutchman first left the club in November, but initial predictions were that the centre-half would return soon. However, with eight games remaining for the Red Devils, the reality is that De Ligt will not be able to play again as he continues his rehabilitation.
De Ligt was a regular until recovering from an injury in the win against Crystal Palace. Before that, he had played all of this season under coach Ruben Amorim, but Carrick was never able to call him up.
United’s current manager admits the former Bayern Munich defender’s recovery has not been as quick as he had hoped and the Manchester outfit may have to make do without him until next season.
Carrick said of De Ligt’s recovery: “It’s hard to say just because it took that long. Sometimes you think you’re OK and then all of a sudden it’s not perfect. That’s one of the difficult things.”
read more: Ruben Amorim: ‘surprise next job on the list’ after sacked as Man United managerread more: Manchester United ‘accept’ Elliot Anderson price tag as summer transfer plans revealed
“Like any injury, you’re trying to find a balance. Some injuries are a little bit simpler than others. He’s getting better, but he’s not getting better as quickly as we all would like. We’re not trying to hide anything. We’re just being patient. We’re obviously going to give him time and try to get him back as soon as possible, but we literally don’t know at the moment, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
United have plenty of depth in the heart of defence. Despite Lisandro Martinez also having fitness issues, they were able to call up Lenny Yolo and Harry Maguire, who helped the club move up the table in third place and set them up for a return to the Champions League.
Harry Maguire has stepped in as Manchester United deal with multiple backline injuries (Image: Getty)
Carrick doesn’t think De Ligt will be able to return and play immediately with a different rehabilitation method. “I don’t want to get into that at this stage. Of course, we will do everything we can to help Matta no matter what,” he said.
“To be honest, at the moment we’re just working through it. Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later and everything will be fine and we can move forward.”
United’s return to a back four rather than the three they played under Amorim reduces the need to have multiple centre-halves fit and available.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
