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Manchester United have completed their first signing of the summer transfer window but with pre-season fast approaching, a lot of work remains to be done.
The club are desperately trying to find an agreement with Inter Milan for Andre Onana after David de Gea became a free agent following the expiry of his contract.
Due to tight finances, United cannot afford to go all gung-ho and need to save money for an elite striker as well along with figuring out a way to sell players to raise further transfer capital.
Pre-season officially begins
Manager Erik ten Hag would have liked most of the transfer work to be done before pre-season but that seems unlikely at the moment.
Players who were not part of international duty started arriving at Carrington on Thursday and the list includes players who might not be here for much longer.
As reported by The Manchester Evening News, “Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho were among the Manchester United players to return for the first official day of pre-season training.
The boss.
Checking in for pre-season đź‘‹#MUFC pic.twitter.com/jkg8sW5f2p
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 6, 2023
“Tom Heaton, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane and Fred also arrived at United’s Carrington training complex on Thursday morning.”
Both Martial and Sancho have been linked with moves away while Mason Mount’s arrival and his subsequent declaration of preferring to play as the No 8 could spell doom for Fred.
Players who suffered season-ending injuries last season like Dean Henderson, Lisandro Martinez, Donny van de Beek, Kobbie Mainoo and Antony had already been recuperating and training at United’s base over the last week.
Academy graduates and young stars who went out on loan have also started checking in.
Big stars expected to arrive later
Amad Diallo and Hannibal Mejbri were spotted back amidst rumours of a permanent exit for the Tunisian and another loan for the Ivory Coast international.
The likes of Charlie Savage, Maxi Oyedele and Isak Hansen-Aaroen are all expected to fill up the numbers in training this week due to the absence of several established first-teamers who are expected to come in later this month.
This is likely to hand several up and coming stars the chance to impress the manager and emerge as a squad option for the season ahead like former academy star Zidane Iqbal.
United’s first pre-season game is against arch-rivals Leeds United in Oslo on Wednesday before they travel to Edinburgh to take on Lyon before their official pre-season tour kicks off in the United States.
Ten Hag is expected to have a full squad for that and the Dutchman was spotted arriving as he seeks to ensure a great start to the season this time around.
