Michael Carrick says there is no guarantee Matthijs de Ligt will play again this season, but Manchester United are hopeful the defender will return from his back issue before the end of the campaign.
A lot has changed at Old Trafford since the 26-year-old centre-back’s last appearance on November 30, when he helped Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils seal a 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace.
De Ligt remains sidelined as United, third in the Premier League and on course for a Champions League return, head to Bournemouth on Friday.
Head coach Carrick said: “Frustrating for Matta. He’s obviously trying to work towards getting back, but it’s just the back issue really that’s proving difficult.
“We’ll keep working as hard as we can to get him back as quick as we can.”
The gaps in a quiet schedule mean De Ligt is guaranteed to be out until at least mid-April, but United sources have told the Press Association the aim is to get him back playing this term.
Asked if there was a chance he would not play again before the end of the season, Carrick said: “Honestly, it’s difficult to say just because it’s taken that much time.
“I can’t give you any more on it really. It’s one of those things with backs that sometimes you think it’s all right and then all of a sudden it’s not quite right.
“We’re just kind of being patient and working through it. We’ll just have to see. We’ll obviously give him time, but trying to get him back as quick as we can, but it’s really difficult to say.
“I’m not trying to hide anything. Literally at the moment we don’t know so we’ll have to wait and see.”
The problem means De Ligt’s chances of going to the World Cup with the Netherlands look faint and have even led to questions over whether he might even need surgery.
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“I don’t want to get into that at this stage,” Carrick said of that prospect. “I think we’ll obviously try and do whatever we can to help Matta and help get him back and whatever that takes.
“We’re working through that now at the moment to be honest and (will) see. Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later and everything will be fine and we can move on.”
De Ligt’s absence has been compounded by that of fellow centre-back Lisandro Martinez, but Harry Maguire has stepped up and started every game since Carrick’s arrival.
The 33-year-old’s form has put in him in with a shot of an England recall when Thomas Tuchel names his squad on Friday and prompted talk over whether his Old Trafford stay could be extended beyond the summer.
“There’s obviously talks going on in terms of what the squad’s going to look like come the end of the season and what it looks like after that,” said Carrick, himself out of contract at the end of the season.
“Harry’s done fantastic for us. I think it’s pretty obvious to say that. He’s had a big impact on what we’ve done, so we’ll have to see.”
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