Ferdinand sees shades of Premier League hero in Tyrell Malacia, as Man Utd team-mate sent warning

Rio Ferdinand has compared Manchester United left-back Tyrell Malacia with a legendary Old Trafford figure following the Dutchman’s impressive performance against Liverpool.

Manchester United put in a great display on Monday night to beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Premier League. The victory ended United’s winless run and gave Erik ten Hag his first points as manager.

A big reason Manchester United beat their fierce rivals was the fact they kept Mo Salah and Luis Diaz quiet for large parts of the game.

Salah did get on the scoresheet when he headed past David de Gea in the 81st minute. But it was too late by then and Liverpool couldn’t mount a full-scale comeback.

Malacia came into the United starting eleven against Liverpool, with Luke Shaw dropped after the 4-0 Brentford defeat.

Following United’s memorable win, Ferdinand drew comparisons between Malacia and United legend Patrice Evra.

“Malacia today was tremendous, outstanding. He reminds me of Patrice Evra in many ways. He’s athletic, he looks like a pound-for-pound strong kid,” Ferdinand said on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel (via the Daily Mirror).

“There aren’t many left-backs in European or world football in the last four or five years who have gone out of a game and kept Mohamed Salah quiet.”

Tyrell Malacia praised, as Rio Ferdinand issues warning

The pundit then sent Malacia’s United team-mate Luke Shaw a selection warning.

“Luke Shaw’s going to have to do something to get back in this team now,” he added.

United spent £14.7million to capture Malacia from Feyenoord, as per Sky Sports. At the time, it was unclear whether the 23-year-old would go straight into Ten Hag’s team.

Shaw has been United’s first-choice left-back over the past few years, though Alex Telles did a good job of challenging him last term.

Telles has gone on a season-long loan to La Liga outfit Sevilla, which has made space for Malacia. Ten Hag can rely on academy graduate Brandon Williams on the left side of defence, too.

Malacia will now push on and try to usurp Shaw as United’s number one left-back. His performance against Liverpool will give him huge confidence of doing this over the coming weeks.

If Malacia can be half the player Evra was for United, then it will be a great purchase.

Evra made 379 appearances for the Red Devils after joining them from Monaco. He helped them win plenty of trophies, including five Premier League titles, one Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup.

United’s transfer business has been poor in recent years. But things are looking up thanks to the arrivals of Malacia, [Lisandro] Martinez and Casemiro.

And United could still add Frenkie de Jong to their midfield, too. According to reports in Spain, club chiefs are drawing up a last-ditch plan to sign the midfielder.

However, they will have to overcome a major European side in the transfer pursuit.