With less than 24 hours until Manchester United kick off the new season away to newly promoted Hull City, the mood around the club is as positive as it has been at any point since the heyday of Sir Alex Ferguson, who departed in 2013.
Michael Carrick, an acolyte of the legendary Scot, is at the wheel, having been handed the reins at Old Trafford permanently after replacing Ruben Amorim on a temporary basis in January. The Red Devils have picked up the most points of any Premier League side since that switch in the dugout, while securing Champions League qualification convinced INEOS to appoint Carrick full-time.
The 41-year-old head coach’s approach – deft, diplomatic and deliberate – has been a welcome change from his prickly Portuguese predecessor, even if journalists all over the country pine for a return to the box-office press conferences which came to define Amorim’s tumultuous tenure. This positivity, on and off the pitch, has been imbued throughout the squad, with Luke Shaw describing them as the “happiest and probably most talented group” he has played with since signing from Southampton 13 years ago.
The pre-season tour was a testament to this, with United enjoying wins over Wrexham, Rosenborg, Atletico Madrid and Leeds United, while going toe to toe with European champions Paris Saint-Germain in a 1-1 draw. The only black mark came, ironically, in a 4-2 loss to an Amorim-led AC Milan side, despite Carrick’s men having gone 1-0 up after just two minutes.
Four senior signings – Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Karl Darlow and Tynan Thompson – have been made, while Carlos Baleba looks set to be the fifth, with United locked in negotiations with Brighton & Hove Albion. Santos, who played the most minutes of any player across the summer, has undoubtedly been the biggest ‘winner’ of pre-season. The coaching staff are understood to be as impressed by his impact in the dressing room as in-game.
However, The Peoples Person considers any new recruit blessed enough to walk through the door at the Theatre of Dreams to be a ‘winner’. For the sake of analysis, only players in Carrick’s squad last season (mostly) will be considered when deciding the five winners and losers from Manchester United’s pre-season – and why Kobbie Mainoo is both.
Winners
Mbeumo enjoyed a red-hot start to life at Old Trafford following his £71 million move from Brentford last summer, but tailed off midway through the campaign. He enjoyed a return to form under Carrick, however, when deployed as a false nine in a 4-2-3-1 system. This has been maintained throughout pre-season with Benjamin Sesko still recovering from a shin injury.
The Cameroon international has notched three goals over the summer, while providing a superb assist for Joshua Zirkzee against Leeds. He looks fitter, faster and freer in this central role, which also allows Amad to start on the right wing. With Sesko yet to play a minute in pre-season, Mbeumo will start up top against Hull City – meaning he is an absolute must-have for Fantasy Footballers as well.
Second only to Santos for most minutes played during pre-season, Heaven has taken full advantage of Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt’s absence. Despite his tender age of 19, the former Arsenal starlet is an imposing figure in the backline. Last season, he ranked third out of all Premier League players for successful ground duels.
This ability to dominate physically is backed up by his technique, however, with Heaven capable of playing the ball forward with purpose and precision. He is not quite at the level of Martinez in possession (who is?), but the fact that the Argentine may struggle to reclaim his starting berth from the youngster is a testament to how impressive Heaven has been this summer.
If not for yet another injury, Mount would be locked in to start the season as Carrick’s first-choice midfielder alongside Santos. However, the 27-year-old has not trained since being forced off the pitch against PSG, despite his transformation in a deeper role this summer.
Trialled next to Santos as a deep-lying playmaker by Carrick, Mount was one of, if not the, best United players in the wins over Wrexham, Rosenborg, and, most importantly, Atletico Madrid. To have played as well as he did against a Champions League semi-finalist was impressive, even if it was a friendly. Provided Mount can return from his latest period on the sidelines, he is primed to be an unexpectedly crucial component of Carrick’s plans.
Perhaps an odd choice considering Fernandes joined pre-season late on, missing two penalties in successive matches, but the club captain is a winner from the summer – because of who else arrived, and what that means for him.
To no one’s surprise, United will continue to line up in Carrick’s favoured 4-2-3-1 shape, the same system which helped Fernandes break the Premier League’s all-time assist record. But he will also benefit from the signings of Santos and, in particular, Tielemans, who are both excellent at passing between the lines.
No longer will United’s No.8 be forced to drop deep in search of the ball, safe in the knowledge that two outstanding technicians – three including Mainoo – are stationed behind him. The connection with Tielemans was on full display against PSG, widely considered the best team in the world.
Having been reinvented as an integral player under Carrick after Amorim’s bizarre decision to freeze him out, Mainoo faced the same treatment by Thomas Tuchel with England at the World Cup. The 21-year-old midfielder was the only member of the Three Lions squad not to play a minute at the tournament in North America.
Yet, this experience – as was the case with Amorim – could ultimately benefit him, given adversity sharpens the mind while his lack of playtime will have rested his body. The potential signing of Baleba, which is believed to be a matter of when rather than if, also provides him the perfect partner profile-wise in midfield. England’s loss will be United’s win this season.
Losers
If Heaven is one of the biggest winners, the player he has, for now at least, replaced has to be one of the biggest losers. Martinez remains something of an enigma; an elite ball-playing centre-back who is routinely exposed because he lacks the pace and power to make up for his diminutive stature.
United are a worse team in possession without El Carnicero, but there is a strong argument they are better out of it. With transitions and set-pieces increasingly dictating success in the Premier League, Martinez’s strengths may not justify his weaknesses.
A contract which expires next summer, though the club can trigger an automatic one-year extension, calls his future into question, while the inability to stay fit will raise alarm bells over a potential new long-term deal. The pre-season tour has already highlighted his successor in the squad.
Transformed by Carrick into a rampaging winger with three goals in three starts on the left wing last season, Dorgu should have been one of the standout performers of pre-season. Matheus Cunha and Marcus Rashford’s extended time off due to World Cup duty gave him sole control of the position – yet he did little to convince.
The 21-year-old Dane did not play poorly per se, but a lack of meaningful moments in the final third has not shifted the sense he may be better deployed as an attacking full-back. However, INEOS are intent on signing a new left-back before the transfer window slams shut on 1 September, while Cunha and Rashford have now returned to the fold. Dorgu may soon be left as a player in between positions, even if his versatility is valuable; a Danish Army Knife, so to speak, just one surrounded by sharper blades elsewhere.
Heading into the summer window, United were understood to have hoped an academy player could emerge as an option to provide a cheap solution in midfield. Fletcher, son of Darren and twin brother of Jack, was deemed the most likely candidate, having been selected by Steve Clarke for Scotland’s World Cup squad.
However, the 19-year-old did not do enough to justify this hope, nor did his brother. The fact that the queue ahead of him now contains Tielemans and Santos alongside Mainoo, with Baleba likely to be added to the mix, means Fletcher is unlikely to play a single minute next season, let alone be a prominent member of Carrick’s squad.
While technically not a player in the first team last season, Rashford’s unlikely return to his boyhood club means he qualifies for selection here. And though it is harsh to place him in the category of losers from United’s pre-season, the fact he failed to seal a permanent move to FC Barcelona earns him a spot on the list.
Publicly, the player, his head coach, and the executive structure are all singing from the same hymn sheet; the transgressions which led to Rashford’s forced departure appear to have left with Amorim. Carrick has praised the 28-year-old on multiple occasions, while United were in the market for a more reliable source of goals in attack. Twenty-eight goal contributions in Spain is double what the most productive United forward – Mbeumo, with 11 goals and three assists – produced last year.
Marcus Rashford Stats: 2025/26 Season
| Competition | Appearances | Starts | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LaLiga | 32 | 18 | 8 | 9 | 3 | - | 1,762' |
| UEFA Champions League | 11 | 5 | 5 | 4 | - | - | 579' |
| Copa del Rey | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 249' |
| Supercopa | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 32' |
| Total | 49 | 26 | 14 | 14 | 3 | - | 2,622' |
If Rashford can replicate his form for Barcelona and England over the past 12 months, he may quickly rise into a ‘winner’ from pre-season. But until that point, he is, rather unfairly, a loser from the twists and tales of the summer transfer window.
Kobbie Mainoo
Why is a winner also a loser, you ask? Well, the prospective arrival of Baleba alongside Santos and Tielemans gives Carrick an excellent four-man unit in midfield, with a selection of complementary attributes. However, it will naturally limit Mainoo’s playtime, even with the increased workload of Champions League football and the hope of deeper runs in the domestic cups.
Baleba will battle Santos for the No.6 role, putting Mainoo in competition with Tielemans – one of the Premier League’s best playmakers last season – for the No.8 position. The 29-year-old Belgium captain is at the peak of his powers, offering a template for the midfielder Mainoo should aspire to become. But if you are in the same squad as the player you want to succeed, it is hard to carve out your own space in the meantime. England’s loss will be United’s win this season, but Tielemans’ presence will limit Mainoo’s chances to show that.
Final Thoughts
So there we have it. Five winners and five losers. Or, more accurately, four winners and four losers, and one hybrid. But that second list was much harder to write than the first, with even more potential ‘winners’ in mind, such as Leny Yoro or Shea Lacey, who did not make the cut. And this suggests Carrick is, in fact, the biggest winner from Manchester United’s pre-season tour and summer wheeling and dealings. If a left-back like Lewis Hall is somehow signed before deadline day, the head coach’s status as the winner of winners will be beyond dispute.
Feature image Michael Regan via Getty Images
