Manchester United have completed the signing of Dutch left-back Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord on a £13m fee. The 22-year-old arrives as the first signing of the Erik ten Hag era.
The Red Devils successfully hijacked Lyon’s move for Malacia, with West Ham also reported to be interested in his services.
FootballOrbit brings you what you need to know about United’s latest signing.
Tyrell Malacia was born on the 17th of August 1999 in Rotterdam, Netherlands to Curaçaoan and Surinamese parents.
He joined Feyenoord’s youth academy in 2008, aged 9.
Malacia rose through the ranks at Feyenoord and signed his first professional contract with the club on the 2nd of December 2015.
At the age of 18, he made his professional debut for Feyenoord in a 2-1 UEFA Champions League win against Napoli on the 6th of December 2017 and played the full 90 minutes.
Malacia made his Eredivisie debut for Feyenoord in a 1–1 draw versus SC Heerenveen on the 13th of December 2017.
His first senior goal came in 2018 when he scored in Feyenoord’s 5-3 victory at Heerenveen.
He won his first career trophy when Feyenoord defeated AZ Alkmaar 3–0 in the 2018 KNVB Cup final, although he was an unused substitute.
He won the Johann Cruyff Shield with his club that same year (2018).
2021/22
2021/22 was Tyrell Malacia’s breakout season as he put in impressive displays throughout the campaign. His performances caught the attention of Manchester United’s new manager, Erik ten Hag, who was at Ajax then.
On the 25th of May 2022, Malacia started in Feyenoord’s 1-0 UEFA Europa Conference League final loss against Roma in Albania, playing 88 minutes.
He was named in the UEFA Conference League Team of the Season.
In 2021/22, he made 50 appearance, scored a goal and provided 5 assists in all competitions.
In total, Tyrell Malacia played 136 matches, scored 4 goals and provided 10 assists for Feyenoord.
Manchester United
On the 5th of July 2022, Malacia joined Manchester United on a 4-year contract with the option of a further year.
United paid Feyenoord an initial fee of £13 million ($16m) with an extra £2 million ($2.4m) to be paid as add-ons.
International career
Although Malacia was born to a Curaçaoan father and a Surinamese mother, he decided to represent his country of birth, Netherlands, at international level.
He was a youth international for the Netherlands from under-16 to under-21 level.
He received a call up to the preliminary squad for the Curaçao national team for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
On August 27, 2021, he received his first call-up for the Netherlands national football team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Norway, Montenegro and Turkey.
He made his debut on the 4th of September 2021 in the match against Montenegro.
So far, he has 5 senior caps and will be aiming to be part of Louis van Gaal’s squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Style of play
Tyrell Malacia is a technically and physically gifted marauding left-back who really loves overlapping and makes solid tackles when defending.
He possesses blistering pace that enables him to rapidly track back to defend in dangerous situations and has the ability to stretch opposition lines from a deep-lying position.
At just 22 years old, Malacia has plenty of time to develop at Old Trafford and will challenge Luke Shaw and Alex Telles for the left-back role.
His arrival is a bad news for Brandon Williams though, as it jeopardises his future at the club. Williams recently returned from a loan spell at Norwich City but now finds himself as the 4th choice left-back at Man Utd.
What do you think of Tyrell Malacia’s arrival at Manchester United? Does he stand a chance of displacing Luke Shaw as the first choice left-back?
