Rúben Amorim has reportedly decided that four of Manchester United’s first-team players will not join the club on pre-season.
As Manchester United work behind the scenes during the summer transfer window, Rúben Amorim is focused on preparing his team for the upcoming Premier League season.
Pre-season gets underway in mid-July, with five fixtures scheduled. It all begins with a trip to Sweden to face old rivals Leeds United at the Strawberry Arena.
United will then head to the United States for clashes with West Ham, Bournemouth, and Everton, before returning home to host Fiorentina—led by former Red David de Gea—at Old Trafford.
The Premier League have officially announced that United will begin their 2025/26 campaign with a headline fixture against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday, 17 August, kicking off at 16:30 BST.
Amorim makes Rashford pre-season U-turn
United will see all of their players report to duty for the opening day of pre-season training in mid-July, which is a blessing as there is no international tournament.
Often, United’s most experienced players and international regulars, such as Bruno Fernandes, Lisandro Martínez, and Noussair Mazraoui, would not be available for the first few weeks of pre-season after competing for their countries.
However, with no tournament this summer, Amorim will have his full squad available to him on the first day of training, barring any injuries, as Martínez’s fitness is currently questionable following an ACL injury.
An interesting question that has been raised is whether Marcus Rashford will return to the squad for their pre-season tour after his falling out with Amorim and loan spell at Aston Villa, with reports indicating that United expected him to participate under Amorim despite questions over his future.
However, a fresh report from The Sun has now detailed that Amorim has made the decision that Rashford will not be flying to either Sweden or the USA this summer, with three other players also facing time on the sidelines.
Three other United players will not travel
United’s first fixture in July does not take place for another month or so, meaning that there is a definite chance that Rashford may not be at the club once the Leeds fixture gets underway, anyway.
Although the same also goes for three other wingers, The Sun report that Amorim has still made the executive decision that Jadon Sancho, Antony, and Alejandro Garnacho will all remain away from the squad when they travel.
All three players are expected to leave this summer, but there is no timeframe as to when this could be. Therefore, Amorim has chosen that, in the case that any of these players remain at the club once the pre-season fixtures are underway, they will not be part of the squad.
United are thought to be working on a solution to see Antony re-join Real Betis permanently, while Garnacho is keen to remain in the Premier League amid interest from Tottenham, Aston Villa, Arsenal, and Chelsea.
Jadon Sancho’s future is more complicated, with the winger refusing to take a wage cut to leave United but no clubs willing to match his current wage.
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