Exclusive: Matthijs de Ligt major injury update received

Noussair Mazraoui, Amad, and Bryan Mbeumo are all away at AFCON for their respective countries.

On the injury side of the team, Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Kobbie Mainoo, and Harry Maguire are all sidelined.

The squad depth is at the bare bones at the minute, with Amorim turning to the youth to use as options.

Bendito Mantato made his senior debut for the club in the game against Wolves last weekend, while Jack Fletcher played a tough 45 minutes again.

Since joining Manchester United last summer, Matthijs de Ligt has proven to be a key part of the Manchester United football team.

Even though he joined from Bayern Munich under Erik ten Hag, Amorim has come to be a big fan of de Ligt.

The Netherlands international was starting to become a regular before his unfortunate injury last month.

CentreDevils exclusively revealed that the centre-back had suffered a minor back issue, ruling him out of action.

Now, a month later, he still hasn’t returned, and we can reveal an update on his situation.

CentreDevils understands that Matthijs de Ligt continued to feel discomfort from a back issue in the last month, which has led to a longer return than planned.

We can reveal that the 26-year-old underwent specialised treatment for this area last month.

He is currently doing individual grass training and isn’t far off returning to first-team training, depending on how his rehabilitation goes.

He has already made 56 appearances for United since arriving at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils have a tough fixture list in the next few weeks and months.

De Ligt’s return to the squad will come at a vital time in a big injury crisis at the moment.

He will hope to continue the excellent form he had prior to the injury.