Matthijs de Ligt: Rio Ferdinand reflects on United star’s injury battle | OneFootball

Matthijs de Ligt’s situation at Manchester United is bound to raise serious concern among fans. The Dutch defender was a pillar at the back for the Red Devils for the first few months of the season.

De Ligt was a constant in former head coach Ruben Amorim’s back three and was arguably one of the best in the league in the first half of the campaign. His rise was evident from the fact that he was adjudged United’s Player of the Month for November last year.

However, the 26 year old has been sidelined since December with a back injury and is yet to return to action. A lot has happened during his absence, with INEOS sacking Amorim and appointing Michael Carrick as the caretaker manager until the end of the season.

The Red Devils reverted to a back four following the Englishman’s arrival and have been on the rise so far, registering seven wins and two draws from 10 games. Unfortunately, De Ligt has missed out on the action.

De Ligt’s injury concerns at United

De Ligt arrived at the Theatre of Dreams in the summer of 2024 from Bayern Munich as a replacement for the outgoing Raphael Varane. The Dutchman was a regular under former head coach Erik ten Hag and retained his place in the starting XI under his successor Ruben Amorim.

However, De Ligt missed the tail end of the campaign, first with a foot injury and then a knee injury. The Ajax graduate appeared to have put his injury woes behind him at the beginning of this season, and played every minute of the first 13 Premier League games.

Unfortunately, his fitness woes have hurt the club in the past few months, especially since Lisandro Martinez also remains sidelined with a knock. De Ligt has now missed 28 games for United since arriving at the club, including 19 this season.

Matthijs de Ligt Injury History with United

Source: Transfermarkt.

The situation has prompted the Red Devils to turn to the market for reinforcements, with recent reports suggesting that they have Brentford’s Nathan Collins on their wish list. United legend Rio Ferdinand, who also suffered from back injuries during his career, has now shared his views on De Ligt’s fitness woes.

Ferdinand sympathises with De Ligt

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Ferdinand reflected on his own injury struggles to outline how hard it will be for De Ligt to deal with his back issues. He said: “Is it my back? Is it something to do with my glutes? Is it my upper back, my lower back? Is it my, like, it’s just crazy.”

“So, the frustrations… if it’s similar to anything that I had that Matthijs de Ligt will be having, I can imagine it’s off the scale because what happens is you go into the training ground and everyone’s going, ‘What’s wrong? Are you right when you fit?’”.

“You can’t even give him a proper, solid answer. So, you’re sitting there and you’re flipping, like, you’re getting depressed because you’re hiding almost and you’re having to feel like you’re hiding and lying, which you ain’t.”

Ferdinand also had to deal with back trouble during his career and missed 15 games in the 2009/10 campaign due to a back injury. The Englishman went on to add that De Ligt must identify the right person to help him deal with the issue. He said: “It’s just, I don’t know, the answer.”

“And it feels stupid to sit there and go when they go, ‘How is it?,’ and you go, ‘I don’t know.’ It’s not an answer that you’re able to say in a training ground; like, we want some, like, where’s the end goal here [for] when you [are] back.”

“We need to look at when you’re going to be playing and where there’s [sic] points on the ball to be won. What are we doing? So, it’ll be frustrating, and I just hope he can get to the bottom of it and he finds the right person [who] understands his body because everyone’s body is unique and they get to the bottom of it.”

Final Thoughts

United already have Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven in their squad, while Harry Maguire is reportedly close to a renewal as well. However, there is no denying that the Red Devils have missed De Ligt’s commanding presence at the back of late and fans will hope that he can return to action before the end of the campaign.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

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