Matthijs de Ligt is set to miss at least four months for Man Utd after suffering what was initially expected to be a minor back injury.

Matthijs de Ligt could miss the rest of the season at Manchester United with the club still in the dark over when the centre-back will be able to return to action following a back injury.

De Ligt hasn’t played for the club since November 28 and what was initially expected to be a minor back injury is still keeping him away from training, with an imminent return not on the cards.

The 26-year-old has been close to making a return to training on a couple of occasions, only to then feel more discomfort in his back, and the unsettled nature of the problem means United are unsure when he will be back in the fold.

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United haven’t ruled out surgery if they feel that is what it takes to get De Ligt back into action, although for now there is hope that careful management of the problem will eventually lead to an improved prognosis.

The Dutch defender played every minute of United’s first 13 Premier League games this season and was in his best form since a £38.5million move from Bayern Munich, but in his absence, Ruben Amorim’s back-three system has been ditched for a back four under Michael Carrick.

Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro have impressed in the centre of defensive and Carrick is unsure whether De Ligt will return to strengthen the ranks before the end of the season.

“It’s difficult to say, just because it’s taken that much time,” he said. “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 and try 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.

“He’s improving, it’s not improving as quick as we all hope, but we’ll see how it goes.”

De Ligt’s long lay-off has damaged his hopes of making the Netherlands’ World Cup squad this summer and if his back doesn’t improve, surgery could be an option.

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

“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.”