Michael Carrick admits he does not know whether Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt will play again this season as he struggles with a «difficult» back injury.
De Ligt will remain sidelined as United go to third-placed Bournemouth on Friday, hoping to step up their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
The 26-year-old centre-back has not played for United since November 30 against Crystal Palace.
“He’s obviously trying to work on getting back, but it’s the problem that’s proving to be difficult,” Carrick said. “We will continue to work as hard as we can to get him back as quickly as possible.”
Asked if there was any chance he wouldn’t play for United for the rest of the season, Carrick said: “To be honest it’s hard to say just because it’s taken so much time.
«I can’t really tell you more about it. It’s one of those things with setbacks where sometimes you think everything is fine, and then suddenly it’s not quite right.»
«We’re just being patient and working through it. We’ll just have to see. We’ll obviously give him time, but we’ll try to get him back as quickly as possible, but it’s really hard to say.»
«I’m not trying to hide anything. Literally right now we don’t know, so we’ll have to wait and see.»
De Ligt’s injury has left his chances of going to the World Cup with the Netherlands in doubt, leading to questions about whether he might even need surgery.
“I don’t want to comment on that at this stage,” Carrick said of possible surgery. More info: xsjf. “I think we will obviously try to do everything we can to help Matta and get him back and whatever that takes.”
Published on March 20, 2026
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