Former Manchester United defender Tyrell Malacia has opened up on his tough time at Old Trafford

Former Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia has revealed he had no conversations with Ruben Amorim regarding his inclusion in the club's notorious 'bomb squad'. The 27-year-old, who departed Old Trafford during the summer transfer window, has spoken out about his treatment under the former manager.

Malacia was among a group of outcasts that included Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Jadon Sancho, all of whom were banished from first-team training. Yet while his fellow exiles managed to secure moves elsewhere, the full-back found himself training in isolation.

"I had a good first season and then I had my injury," Malacia told BBC Sport. "I don't want to talk too much about it, but certain things happened in my rehab.

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"Ruben came in when I just got back from my injury. He gave me a couple of games, but I had come back after a year and a half.

"Imagine not playing for a year and a half and adapting to everything, especially in the best league in the world and playing for such a big club. It takes time.

"As a player you need to understand if you play for a big club like Manchester United, sometimes you don't get the time."

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The Dutchman made eight appearances following his comeback from injury before heading to PSV Eindhoven on loan for the remainder of the 2024/25 season, returning to United hopeful of a fresh start.

He said: "Even at that time I still wasn't 100%, but it was good for me to get game time and adapting to the game.

"After that period of six months, I came back in summer I thought 'OK, now it's going happen, I'm going to get a fair chance'."

Yet Malacia found no place in Amorim's setup and was consigned to a so-called 'bomb squad' of players deemed surplus to requirements.

Speaking candidly about that gruelling period, he said: "I don't know where that came from, I don't know if it was Ruben or higher up or anything, but I never said anything about it, I just kept working and doing my thing even though it was difficult sometimes training in a group of five.

"At some point Marcus, Garnacho and even Antony left. Then I stayed on my own, training with the second team, even with the under-18s and below. It's tough. It's tough mentally.

"I could have said 'OK, I'm not coming into training'. But I thought 'that's not going to help me'. It's a reason for them to say 'this is the reason you are with them or training on your own'. I just kept my head down and did the work.

"I always stayed fit since I came back from my injury, but people didn't know that. They were like 'why is he not playing?'".