Manchester United's senior players have returned to Carrington for pre-season training under newly installed head coach Michael Carrick, but the squad only partially resembles the group he will work with for the opening Premier League game. None of the players selected for the World Cup are back yet, and Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt is still recovering from back surgery. Likely new recruits Andrey Santos and Karl Darlow are close to completing their moves, while there has been no clarity on Ederson's prospective move from Atalanta. With World Cup players allowed three weeks' recovery, a number of youngsters are likely to get a chance to impress in United's first two pre-season games against Wrexham in Helsinki and Norwegian side Rosenborg in Trondheim. In the last tournament summer, then-boss Erik ten Hag used 13 academy players against Rangers, though seven of those are no longer at the club and five have been loaned out at least once. Only Jack Fletcher has spent the intervening two years exclusively at Old Trafford. Among the youngsters to watch is Shea Lacey, a 19-year-old England Under-20 international who made four substitute appearances for United's first team last season. United's under-21 coach revealed Lacey had become a fully fledged member of the senior squad at training. There was speculation about a loan move, but that feels unlikely given the high regard for Lacey at United and the belief in the level he can reach. Fletcher, who made his debut at Aston Villa last season, is another who could feature.
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