When healthy, Manchester United center back Matthijs de Ligt is one of the best in the world in his position, but, unfortunately, he has been out since December with back issues, missing a total of 15 games with his latest ailment.
The good news is that Man United fans finally have a real injury update on De Ligt, and, better yet, it looks like it won’t be all that long until the Dutch star returns to the heart of the Red Devils defense.
According to a report from Tyrone Marshall of the Manchester Evening News, De Ligt is not rushing back from his back injury and is taking his time with his recovery. He is, however, expected to return in March, and that is his current target date for return.
Manchester United are in Champions League contention all of a sudden under Michael Carrick, so having their best overall defender back in the lineup would be huge in helping them seal the deal in the final months of the season.
De Ligt is in the prime of his career at age 26, and he’s been sorely missed over the last couple of months. This season, the former Ajax, Juventus, and Bayern Munich man has started 13 games with an average of 2.7 combined tackles and interceptions per game with 5.2 clearances per match and 0.5 dribbles allowed.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.