Manchester United defender will be allowed to leave after gruelling 517-day absence

Manchester United defender Tyrell Malacia stepped away from social media during his prolonged absence from football.

He was mentally challenged during a 517-day spell on the sidelines due to a serious knee injury and felt it wasn't wise to spend hours reading what others were saying about him online.

Malacia sustained the knee injury at the end of the 2022/23 season and the club initially looked to manage it with pain injections, but surgery was eventually deemed necessary.

He spent some time in the Netherlands to recover but required another operation on the same knee, and the Manchester Evening News were first to reveal why Malacia had been absent, clarifying that he'd undergone surgery after weeks of speculation from fans.

And it was the speculation that Malacia wanted to stay away from. There was a lack of communication from the club on his situation and conspiracy theories were rife across social media.

“No, nothing was true. No, no, I’ve just been doing my rehab," said Malacia about the theories on his extended absence. "Especially when I was in Holland, I was close to my family — so just training, family, sleeping; training, family, sleeping. The only thing I’ve done.

"I’m not really a guy who’s on social media a lot. If it wasn’t my cousin or my mum sending me this, I wouldn’t even know. Most of the time, a week after I’d find out they were saying this or that."

Those quotes were given to The Athletic shortly after Malacia's return to the pitch, which came for the Under-21s' in a game against Huddersfield Town in the EFL Trophy in November.

Malacia said he felt like 's***' during his recovery from two operations, but remained positive throughout the lengthy process, so it was great to see him back on grass