Rúben Amorim will have a few players unavailable as he prepares his Manchester United side for a pre-season friendly against Leeds United.
Manchester United will kick off their pre-season campaign with a clash against Leeds United in Stockholm, Sweden.
After a disappointing 15th-place finish in the Premier League last season, Rúben Amorim’s side have lined up a demanding run of fixtures to prepare for 2025/26, including four games against fellow top-flight English teams and a home meeting with Fiorentina at Old Trafford.
Following the Leeds encounter, United will head to the United States to face West Ham, Bournemouth, and Everton in the Premier League Summer Series.
As the first of five pre-season matches, the Leeds game could offer fans their first look at new arrivals Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon in United colours.
Five Reds unavailable vs Leeds
With United playing Leeds on Saturday afternoon, there will be no time for the club to push through the transfer of Bryan Mbeumo, having agreed on a £65 million transfer for the Cameroon international from Brentford.
However, it’s thought that the deal will be completed before United fly to the United States for pre-season, meaning Mbeumo’s unofficial debut for the club will take place on 26 July against West Ham in New Jersey.
Lisandro Martínez is recovering well from a knee injury sustained in February and will continue his rehabilitation as he looks to return to action in September.
André Onana has responded well to initial treatment after sustaining a hamstring injury in training, but is not expected to recover in time to face Leeds and may not return until after the Premier League season has started.
However, Amorim has already decided that both Martínez and Onana will fly to the United States with the rest of the squad if doctors allow them to travel, to keep the players as involved as possible once they can return to action.
Further, Joshua Zirkzee has not travelled with the squad to Sweden due to a small issue, but it’s thought that the problem is minor and he will be fit to play in the United States.
Expect to see minutes for almost every player
As the Leeds tie is the first pre-season fixture for United this summer, Amorim will mainly use it as a trial fixture for what he has been working on in training over the last two weeks, and to get minutes back into the legs of his key players.
Those such as Cunha, Matthijs de Ligt, and Mason Mount have all attended every day of pre-season, while others like Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, and Diogo Dalot returned a few days later due to competing in the international fixtures in June.
It is expected that Amorim will field a strong starting XI for the opening 45 minutes, but will make wholesale changes after the break.
Other younger players, such as Chido Obi, Jack Fletcher, and Sekout Kone, may be handed chances in the second half after travelling with the squad.
However, it is interesting to note that neither Harry Amass nor Shea Lacey were part of the squad, with the former set to head on loan and little known about the latter’s lack of involvement.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.