Manchester United manager Michael Carrick does not know when injured Matthijs de Ligt will return

Manchester United coach Michael Carrick has admitted he has no idea when Matthijs de Ligt will be ready to play again.

De Ligt was an ever-present in the team’s defense for the first 13 games of the season before unexpectedly missing the home game against West Ham on 4 December.

At the time, coach Ruben Amorim said it was a “small matter” and expected the Dutchman to return for the trip to Wolves four days later.

As it turned out, De Ligt never played for Amorim again. He is still recovering from a back injury, and given his absence from the weekend’s match against Bournemouth, the 26-year-old will be out of action for more than four months by the time Manchester United play again, against Leeds at Old Trafford on April 13.

Carrick did not speculate when asked if there was a possibility that De Ligt would not be able to play again during the remainder of the season. However, he admitted that the nature of the injury means it is impossible to set a timetable for his return.

“It’s hard to say, just because it took so much time,” he said.

“Sometimes, with them coming up, you think everything is fine, and suddenly it’s not fine anymore.

“We’re being patient and working on it. We’ll give it time and try to get it back as quickly as we can, but it’s really hard to say.”

De Ligt was expected to be part of the Netherlands’ World Cup squad this summer after national coach Ronald Koeman selected him for the qualifying matches in September and November.

Those hopes are now on the wane as De Ligt struggles to find a solution to his back problem, although Carrick has chosen not to get involved thinking the former Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich player may have to undergo surgery.

He added: “I don’t want to get into this matter at this stage.”

“We will try to do everything we can to help as we work to resolve this now.

“I’m not trying to hide anything. It’s getting better. It’s not as fast as we all hope.”