Manchester United’s pre-season preparations are officially up and running.
Just over six weeks after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley, United’s players reported back to the club’s Carrington training complex this week for the start of pre-season training. The Reds face Rosenborg in their opening pre-season friendly next Monday.
United manager Erik ten Hag, just like last year, is expected to pick from a blend of youth and experience for the trip to Norway. Those who have been involved in either the European Championship or the Copa America are entitled to a period of absence before reporting back for pre-season.
Despite that, there was awash of talent in situ at Carrington this week with the likes of Andre Onana, Harry Maguire, Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford present. There was also a large splattering of youngsters involved in the first session of the summer.
With that in mind, MEN Sport has picked out five things that we spotted from the opening day of United’s pre-season preparations.
Following several weeks of speculation about his future in the aftermath of the FA Cup final, Erik ten Hag was probably relieved to get back to focusing on the football on Monday. Snapped by club photographers, he appeared to be very relaxed, sporting a huge smile as his players got to grips with their first session of the summer.
(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.)It should be stressed that shirt numbers in pre-season should be absorbed with a pinch of salt. Clubs are notorious for letting players wear a different number ahead of the competitive action getting started, only to leave everyone bamboozled once the season starts. However, it appears as though a change could be in the offing for defender Willy Kambwala. He was spotted donning a training shirt with ‘No.32’ on it. He was assigned the No.53 shirt last season, suggesting an upgrade could soon be confirmed.
(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.)Pre-season is the ample opportunity for any manager to evaluate his squad with a fine tooth comb. Ten Hag, throughout his United premiership, has regularly invited youngsters to step up and train alongside the first-team squad, even though opportunities have not always followed. On Monday, the training session was awash with youngsters, including Sonny Aljofree, Habeeb Ogunney, Harry Amass, Louis Jackson, Ethan Williams, Finley McAllister, James Scanlon, Toby Collyer, Sam Murray, Ethan Wheatley and Joe Hugill, plus several others.
(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.)Harry Maguire has probably found it harder than most watching England this summer. For the first time since 2016, he has played no part in the Three Lions’ pursuit of success on the international stage, missing out on the European Championship through injury. Maguire, once it was clear he would miss the tournament, conducted double training sessions with United’s medical staff in Portugal. Back at Carrington on Monday, he was pictured out on the grass, suggesting he could be ready for the club’s pre-season opener next week.
(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.)After making the substitutes bench for each of United’s last four Premier League games last season, Toby Collyer will have grand ambitions of making his senior debut before too long. He made the bench on eight separate occasions last term but was not awarded a single minute on the pitch. Training alongside the club’s senior stars, he will be hoping to make his mark in the coming weeks. Also, like Kambwala, he was donning a different number on his training gear, sporting No.43. He was assigned the No.65 shirt last term.
(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.)