Michael Carrick says Man Utd player may not play again this season

Michael Carrick has no idea when Matthijs de Ligt will be fit to play again.

It has been more than 100 days since De Ligt's last appearance for Manchester United, when he stayed on for the full 90 minutes in their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in November.

At the time, former United head coach Ruben Amorim downplayed a "small" issue regarding De Ligt's fitness and expected him to return for their clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 8.

But after suffering multiple setbacks, the Dutchman has yet to make a return from a back problem. In fact, there are doubts whether he will feature before the end of the season.

Asked if there is a chance De Ligt will be out for the rest of the season, Michael Carrick delivered an honest assessment of the situation as United push for a Champions League spot.

“Honestly, it's difficult to say. I think it's just because it's taken that much time," he said.

De Ligt last played for United in November last year. Image credit: Getty

Carrick continued: "Yeah, I can't give you any more on it, really. It's one of those things with backs that, sometimes, you think it's alright and then, all of a sudden, it's not quite right.

"So, we're just kind of being patient and working through it, and we'll just have to see. We’ll obviously give him time and try to get him back as quickly as we can. But it's really difficult to say. I am not trying to hide anything.

"Literally, at the moment, we don't know, so we'll have to wait and see.”

He added: “It's like any injury. It’s trying to get the balance right. Some are a little bit more straightforward than others. Yeah, it's kind of it is what it is, really. Hopefully, listen, he's improving.

"It's not improving as quickly as we all hope, but we'll see how it goes.”

De Ligt's four-month absence has raised the possibility that he may require surgery.

“I don’t want to get into that at this stage," Carrick said regarding the prospect of surgery. "I think we’ll obviously try and do whatever we can to help Matta."

De Ligt pictured arriving ahead of a first team training session on March 11. Image credit: Getty

He added: “I think it’ll help getting back and whatever that takes, we’re working through that now at the moment to be honest. Hopefully, he’ll be back sooner rather than later and everything will be fine and we can move on.”