Man United welcomed their senior stars back to Carrington over the weekend for the start of their pre-season preparations.

Manchester United’s players are stepping up their pre-season preparations. (Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images.)

Manchester United welcomed their international contingent back to their Carrington training base on Saturday morning, signalling the beginning of the next phase of their pre-season preparations.

Those who were on international duty last month were granted an extended summer break before reporting back for the start of pre-season. The likes of Luke Shaw, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho all returned.

Members of United’s squad who were not on international duty last month reported back to Carrington just over a week ago and took part in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Leeds United in the Reds’ pre-season opener in Norway. Boss Erik ten Hag fielded two different XIs, making wholesale changes at half-time, with the youthful XI that played in the second half getting the goals to seal the win.

United are in action again this coming Wednesday, facing French side Lyon in Edinburgh, before jetting off to the USA for the start of their pre-season tour.

Ten Hag got the chance to see his key players back on the grass for the first time on Saturday, along with a plethora of youngsters. MEN Sport has taken a close look at five things we spotted during the latest session at Carrington.

Big-name stars return

After spending the first week or so on the training ground working with fewer senior players than he would have liked, Ten Hag welcomed some of his big-name players back to Carrington on Saturday. After taking part in a gym session, they then made their way outside onto the grass to work both with and without the ball.

Among the returning players pictured taking part in the main session were Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Facundo Pellistri, Anthony Elanga, Shaw, Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes, Garnacho and Rashford. Tyrell Malacia was pictured taking part in the gym session.

The pool of international players will now be looking to work on their fitness levels ahead of flying out to the USA and facing Arsenal in their first tour friendly next Saturday evening.

From left to right: Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Anthony Elanga all trained. (Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images.)

Youngsters aim to impress

As is always the case in pre-season, the training session was awash with youngsters aiming to try and catch Ten Hag’s eye. Among them were some of the faces that featured in the second half of the win over Leeds, including Charlie Savage and Shola Shoretire.

However, some less recognisable faces also featured, including the likes of Willy Kambwala, Mateo Mejia and James Nolan. It is possible that several youngsters could be involved in the clash with Lyon ahead of flying to the US for the friendly with Wrexham in San Diego.

The tussle with the League Two side in just over a week’s time is expected to be handled by the club’s academy, leaving Ten Hag and his senior figures to concentrate on the clashes with Arsenal, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

Willy Kambwala (in the red bib) featured. (Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images.)

Smiles aplenty

Despite the demands and expectations that come with pre-season training, United’s senior stars and youngsters looked happy to be back. The session was awash with smiling faces and there appeared to be a sense of unity and confidence within the camp.

Ten Hag has massively improved the team spirit over the past 12 months or so and that was evident during Saturday’s session. A happy camp has the potential to prosper.

Ten Hag and Rashford in conversation

Though the topic of the discussion is, of course, unknown, Ten Hag and Rashford appeared to be deep in conversation at one point during the session. Rashford was pictured smiling as he had a chat with his boss, who resurrected his career last term.

Rashford plundered 30 goals in all competitions for the first time in his career, meaning he will be hoping to replicate similar standards this time around. Maybe Ten Hag was reminding him about the target of 40 goals he set him back in May!

Marcus Rashford held talks with Erik ten Hag (left). (Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images.)

Key players nowhere to be seen

With the exception of a few youngsters, those that featured in Wednesday’s win over Leeds were not pictured participating in Saturday’s training session. The likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho were not pictured.

There was also no sign of Donny van de Beek, Anthony Martial and Antony, who all failed to make the squad for the trip to Norway, despite having trained in the build-up to the clash with Daniel Farke’s team. The aforementioned trio all missed the end of last season through injury and are being managed carefully.

Fred, who was included in the squad that travelled to Norway but then not named in the matchday squad, was also not pictured in training. He played no part in the clash with Leeds as a ‘precaution’ because he is managing his workload.

Source: express