REVEALED: Manchester United’s 23-Man Pre-Season Squad
Reuters/Carl Recine
The summer vacations are almost over, as players are beginning to return to their training ground around this period.
Manchester United are set to begin their pre-season routine, and 23 of their players are expected to return to the Carrington Academy on Monday.
None of the players from the World Cup are likely to feature for the initials training. Seven players might not feature for most of the pre-season, as they are still in the competition in Russia.
The Red Devils are set to have at least one player in the finals, as Paul Pogba’s France faces off against the Belgian team that has Lukaku and Fellaini. They have a further four players who are in the England squad that will come up against Croatia in the other semi-final.
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Nemanja Matic, who was the only Manchester United player to get knocked out in the group stages, is likely to join the squad just before they travel to the USA. De Gea, Fred, and Victor Lindelof were involved in the knock stages, and will come in during the later stages of the pre-season tour.
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United’s initial pre-season team is expected to be as follows:
Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero, Lee Grant, Joel Castro Pereira, Kieran O’Hara.
Romero has recovered from the injury that kept him out of the World Cup. Joel Pereira will be joining the squad, as he hasn’t been able to secure a loan move yet. New signing Lee Grant, alongside academy player Kieran O’Hara, will complete the goalkeeping roster.
Defenders: Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Matteo Darmian, Antonio Valencia, Axel Tuanzebe, Diogo Dalot, Demetri Mitchell.
Mourinho will have ten defenders at his disposal for the first training session. Blind and Darmian have been surrounded with transfer rumors, but there haven’t been concrete developments yet. Tuanzebe and Mitchell are the United graduates who have been called up for the pre-season training.
New signing Diogo Dalot will be looking to beat his competitor, Antonio Valencia, in the coming weeks. Bailly and Smalling will go head-to-head for a centre-back spot in the starting XI. Shaw and Fosu-Mensah will be looking to catch Mourinho’s eyes in what could be their final chances at United.
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Midfielders: Juan Mata, Andreas Pereira, Ander Herrera, Scott McTominay, Joe Garner.
Andreas Pereira will be looking to make a name for himself in the absence of Pogba and Matic. The Spanish amigos, Mata and Herrera, will have company from the young duo of McTominay and Garner.
Forwards: Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial, Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong.
Gomes and Chong will get their chances to earn a spot in the United squad for next season, while Sanchez and Martial will aim to outrun each other for a guaranteed starting spot.