Six Manchester United youngsters that Erik ten Hag should pick for US tour squad

Manchester United will embark upon their pre-season tour of the United States following their second fixture against Lyon next week.

Erik ten Hag’s side face the Ligue 1 outfit in Edinburgh a week after their opening pre-season game against Leeds United, which The Reds came out as 2-0 victors.

Many youth players were gifted opportunities against the Championship outfit in Norway. The second half team was filled with academy talent and both goalscorers, Noam Emeran and Joe Hugill, were regulars for the under-21s last term.

However, United will be boosted by the return of their internationals on Saturday and whilst many will not take part in the Lyon encounter, they will be joining the squad on the US tour.

This will, of course, mean that Ten Hag will need to pick and choose the youngsters that will travel on the plane for the additional four games in the States.

After the opening game, and taking into account the abilities of the different players, here are five youngsters that Ten Hag should consider placing in the squad.

Alvaro Fernandez

Alvaro Fernandez enjoyed a successful half of football in Oslo playing at left-back. The Spaniard was impressive in the way he found forward passes to teammates in space.

After a promising spell on loan at Championship club Preston North End last term, Fernandez has shown that he could perhaps challenge Tyrell Malacia for the backup space to Luke Shaw and Ten Hag should be looking more at the 20-year-old throughout pre-season.

Isak Hansen-Aaoren

Isak Hansen-Aaoren was the player with the cool head, and quality on the ball, to slide the pass through to Emeran to open the scoring on Wednesday.

He was impressive in the second half team that won the game for United and could be an option to bring on the US tour. Although there are other talented midfielder’s ahead of him in the ranks, it would be great experience and further time for Ten Hag to assess the talented teenager.

Amad Diallo

Amad Diallo could easily play a part for the first-team next season. Despite his replacement on Wednesday, Emeran, scoring and assisting against Leeds, he is not quite ready for first-team involvement. Amad, however, is.

His successful loan spell at Sunderland last season was a solid building block in his development and with the lack of right-wingers at the club, Amad can offer quality in depth there. Being able to have the chance to impress Ten Hag in the US is expected for the Ivorian.

Kobbie Mainoo

Everybody is talking about Kobbie Mainoo. The talented central midfielder stole the show in the first half against Leeds despite anchoring the midfield.

He has great potential and could very well be part of the squad next season. Alejandro Garnacho was the player to emerge from the academy last term and it’s looking likely that it is Kobbie’s turn this coming term.

Joe Hugill

Joe Hugill scored the second goal of the game against Leeds with a classic striker’s finish. A great movement complimented by an excellent first-time strike. That has been a rare occurrence at Old Trafford in recent years.

With United still yet to secure the signing of a no.9 in the transfer window, Hugill could get a valuable opportunity to travel with the squad due to the low numbers in his position.

He might not be quite ready to contribute for the first-team in the season, but his profile would certainly intrigue Ten Hag and could get him a place on the plane.

Hannibal Mejbri

Hannibal Mejbri’s loan at Birmingham City was less successful than the likes of Fernandez and Amad, however, the football played at St Andrew’s was not entirely suited to what the midfielder needed.

Still, it was a season of development and lessons for the young talent who looked really sharp in United’s first pre-season game.

He is one of few academy talents that could be ready to contribute to Ten Hag’s side right now. Whether or not he gets the chance is a different question, however, it’s likely that he flies to the US in order for Ten Hag to assess his current ability further.