Manchester United’s senior players have reported back to Carrington for the start of pre-season under new head coach Michael Carrick. The group that gathered on Thursday is only a partial version of the squad expected to face Hull City in the Premier League opener on 22 August.
None of the World Cup players have returned yet, and Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt remains in rehabilitation following back surgery. Potential signings Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Karl Darlow from Leeds are close to completion, while there is still no clear update on Ederson’s proposed move from Atalanta.
For now, nine senior players have been seen training alongside Carrick. With World Cup participants entitled to three weeks off from the date of their elimination, several youngsters are likely to feature in United’s first two pre-season fixtures: Wrexham in Helsinki on 18 July and Rosenborg in Trondheim on 24 July.
In the last tournament summer, the first friendly—against Rangers—came a week after Euro 2024 ended, rather than on the eve of a World Cup concluding as it is this year. Erik ten Hag used 13 academy players in that game, with five more traveling but not playing. Seven of those 13 have since left the club and five have been out on loan at least once. Only Jack Fletcher, a second-half substitute that day, has remained at Old Trafford throughout.
Fletcher is one of just four from that group to make senior appearances since the Murrayfield match—he has three cameos, while Toby Collyer has 13, Harry Amass seven, and Ethan Wheatley one. A run-out in Finland or Norway is no guarantee of a first-team breakthrough, but United’s youngsters will still be eager to impress. Here are a few names to watch.