The immediate problem Michael Carrick faces with Man Utd's £42m signing

De Ligt has sat out of United’s last nine games (Picture: Getty/Metro

There have been plenty of questions asked at Manchester United over the last week. But as the club lurches into another period of transition, the one over the persistent absence of Matthijs de Ligt could grow louder.

It has been over six weeks since his last appearance for the club, playing the full 90 minutes in the victory away to Crystal Palace on 30 November.

After missing the following game against West Ham United, Ruben Amorim optimistically predicted: ‘For Matta, it is a small thing. I expect to have Matthijs [back] next game.’

Those comments were made on 4 December. A week later, ahead of a game against Bournemouth , Amorim revealed it was a back issue causing problems for his centre-half. ‘I think he has something in his back. I don’t know for sure. He finished the game against Crystal Palace, but sometimes he feels pain, and we have to be careful with that.’

There have been no further updates since with no firm indication when the Netherlands international will return to action. The radio silence has done little to ease fears growing among fans on social media .

The former Ajax starlet had a very strong case for being United’s player of the season until injury struck . Despite sitting out of the last nine games, no other player has won more aerial duels than the Dutchman this season, playing every minute of every Premier League game prior to being sidelined.

Michael Carrick was confirmed as United’s interim boss on Wednesday and with the former midfielder expected to switch to a system built on four at the back, having the club’s best centre-half available for that transition would have been ideal.

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De Ligt has not played since the win at Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty)

But ahead of Saturday’s derby showdown with Manchester City, there has been no indication a return is close.

United have not disclosed any details behind the injury but back problems can be problematic. Arsenal lost William Saliba to such an injury in March 2023, ruling him out of the final three months of the season in a blow that was most responsible for the Gunners’ title bid derailing.

There is no suggestion de Ligt is struggling with a similar issue – details on the Dutchman are scarce but by their nature, back injuries are complex.

Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, suggests there could be a number of possible issues at play, each with their own ‘complications and timelines’.

United hope to have de Ligt back in training soon (Picture: Getty)

‘They are always complex, or they have the potential to be very complex,’ Smith told Metro . ‘We don’t know what this one is, we don’t know if it is a muscular issue, a neural issue or an articular (joint) issue. Each would come with its own set of complications and timelines. They are all different.

‘The weight of your entire body goes through your back, you can’t run around, you can’t twist and turn, you can’t bend down, you can’t kick if it’s a problem for you. So for a a high performing athlete, it is obviously a very important component.

‘It sounds like it may have been a little bit more serious than was initially communicated. Or it has taken longer to work through, they thought it was something smaller and it has played out a little longer than expected. We don’t know what the diagnosis is so it is hard to estimate what that means but we can hope he is over the worst of it.’

Training with back issues can be very problematic depending on the severity if the issue. For any player in any position, the physical demands on your back are huge and until the issue is resolved, they can require significant periods of recovery.

@metrosportuk Is Carrick a good choice for United? 🤷‍♂️ Manchester United legend Michael Carrick has reportedly emerged as the favourite to step in as caretaker manager for the Red Devils following Ruben Amorim’s sacking, is it actually a good idea to bring him in? #carrick #manchesterunited #middlesbrough #premierleague #championship ♬ original sound - Metro Sport

Mainoo could be reborn following Amorim's exit (Picture: Getty)

‘You can have simple back spams issues that have athletes doing certain aspects of conditioning before being introduced to team training relatively quickly,’ Smith said. ‘Things with a neural or disc involvement can be highly debilitating and require a decent amount of treatment and recovery to offload that and get normal function back.

‘Similarly, articular and joint issues can require significant periods of time too. When you think about the entire load of your body, it is a lot of pressure and stress to take. When you couple that with the pressure and stress created when you are running, jumping, landing and all that pressure is coming through one fulcrum, that can be very debilitating. It depends on the root cause of the issue.’

De Ligt falls into the category of players who you feel have been on the scene for years despite being just 26. The centre-half was just 19 when he was captaining Ajax in the Champions League semi-final and having also had spells at Juventus and Bayern Munich, has been operating within an elite environment his entire career.

De Ligt played every minute of every game before the issue struck (Picture: Getty)

Aside from a shoulder problem that ruled him out for three months in 2020, this latest issue will mark his longest spell out, 44 days and counting having missed nine games.

No real history of back issues is a positive. Having crashed out of the FA Cup, United are also looking at a relatively light schedule for the second-half of the season with just 17 games on the calendar.

While they certainly won’t have wanted it that way, it will make the task of keeping the squad fresh and rested a little easier.