مدير عام كرة القدم
After enduring their worst season in 51 years, all Manchester متحد have been thinking about is making amends for it with a positive campaign. And after almost two months to digest finishing 15th in the الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز and their painful defeat in the Europa League final, Ruben Amorim’s side are ready for take off as their pre-season campaign kicks off on Saturday against historic rivals Leeds United in Stockholm.
On the flight over United’s directors will be celebrating finally clinching the signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford and, while the forward will not be able to travel over to Sweden, he is expected to head out on the club’s tour of the USA, where they will be facing Premier League opposition in Everton, Bournemouth and West Ham United. Their preparations will come to an end with a home game against Fiorentina on August 9 before the real action begins against Arsenal.
While all eyes will be on Mbeumo and £62.5m ($83m) arrival Matheus Cunha, the pre-season matches are also a huge opportunity for United’s next generation of players to make an impression on fans and, crucially, on Amorim. Given that the club have already maxed out their budget on Cunha and Mbeumo until more money is raised from player sales, there could not be a better time for the many talented youngsters among United’s ranks to stake their claim for a place in Amorim’s squad for next season.
With that in mind, بالجم runs through the six players to watch out for during United’s pre-season campaign…
After enduring their worst season in 51 years, all مانشستر يونايتد have been thinking about is making amends for it with a positive campaign. And after almost two months to digest finishing 15th in the Premier League and their painful defeat in the Europa League final, Ruben Amorim’s side are ready for take off as their pre-season campaign kicks off on Saturday against historic rivals Leeds United in Stockholm.
On the flight over United’s directors will be celebrating finally clinching the signing of Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford and, while the forward will not be able to travel over to Sweden, he is expected to head out on the club’s tour of the USA, where they will be facing Premier League opposition in Everton, Bournemouth and West Ham United. Their preparations will come to an end with a home game against Fiorentina on August 9 before the real action begins against Arsenal.
While all eyes will be on Mbeumo and £62.5m ($83m) arrival Matheus Cunha, the pre-season matches are also a huge opportunity for United’s next generation of players to make an impression on fans and, crucially, on Amorim. Given that the club have already maxed out their budget on Cunha and Mbeumo until more money is raised from player sales, there could not be a better time for the many talented youngsters among United’s ranks to stake their claim for a place in Amorim’s squad for next season.
With that in mind, بالجم runs through the six players to watch out for during United’s pre-season campaign…
Shea Lacey grew up in a Liverpool-mad household and even had a season ticket at Anfield. But he was effectively brought up by United, first training with the club when he was four years old, and has been converted to the Red Devils’ cause. The right winger routinely won player of the tournament awards – once pipping Lamine Yamal to one – and clips of his slalom dribbles and thumping left-footed strikes have been wowing fans online for the last three years. He is about to move up to the U21s but above all he wants to get into the first team and has taken his next step towards that objective by training with Amorim’s side in pre-season, having played 45 minutes across two matches in the post-season tour of Asia.
Bendito Mantato has been compared to Bukayo Saka but it was against Arsenal that he made his name last season, scoring an extra-time winner in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final tie. The 17-year-old got 16 goals and six assists across the U18s and U21s last season, and was named on the bench for both legs of the Europa League semi-final against Athletic Club. He missed out on the tour of Asia but has been called up into first-team training in pre-season and will fly with the squad to Stockholm to face Leeds.
Although Lisandro Martinez is an exception, it usually helps if a centre-back is blessed with height and that is certainly true of Godwill Kukonki, who is 6ft 5in. The left-footed centre-back has been compared to Josko Gvardiol for his blend of physical strength and composure on the ball and the fact he deputised at left-back on many occasions for the U18s last season. Kukonki has been with United since he was five years old and must have impressed Amorim early doors, as he included him in the first-team squad for the trip to Arsenal in what was the coach’s fourth match in charge. He made the bench for five more matches, albeit never getting the nod until the post-season tour, when he featured against both Hong Kong and ASEAN All-Stars. He could be in line for an early opportunity against Leeds after being picked in the 29-man squad.
Diego Leon is the first Paraguayan to sign for United and he certainly does not lack confidence. Heading towards Manchester from Paraguay, he told assembled reporters: “Everyone thinks I’ll go out on loan, but I don’t have that mindset. I’m going to kill it in pre-season and within one or two games, I’ll already be playing with them.” The 18-year-old, who grew up in poverty and first played football using a rolled up cloth, has worked hard to get to United and is not about to stop now. A highly athletic and attacking left-back, he will be looking to compete with Patrick Dorgu and Harry Amass for a first-team berth.
The Danish striker has been making a name for himself ever since scoring 10 goals in one match against Liverpool while playing for Arsenal’s U16 side. He has stayed remarkably prolific with each age category he has ascended to, last year breaking the record for the most goals in the U18 Premier League. Those numbers became impossible for Amorim to ignore and despite understandable caution about unleashing a player so young, he made eight first-team appearances last season. And he finally scored for the senior team to avert further embarrassment during the tour of Asia, netting twice to fire United to a comeback win over Hong Kong after replacing the typically blunt Rasmus Hojlund.
Elyh Harrison seems to be way down the pecking order but the injury to Andre Onana, uncertainty about Altay Bayindir’s future and Tom Heaton being 39 means he could get a few opportunities to show what he is made of. The 19-year-old, who is known for his distribution skills, got the chance to toughen up in the rough surroundings of the non-leagues by spending the first half of last season on loan at Chester in the sixth tier of English football. He kept seven clean sheets in 18 matches before being recalled to the U21s, while also training on several occasions with Amorim’s side.
