Carrick Faces Selection Challenges Ahead of PSG Clash
Manchester United’s summer finally catches up with them on Friday night. A glamour meeting with PSG, a new manager in Michael Carrick, a fresh signing ready at last – and a squad stretched thin by the aftershocks of a brutal World Cup.
The club’s new midfielder, delayed by Belgium’s run to the quarter-finals, is at last available for selection and ready to step into Carrick’s plans. His first minutes for United have been on hold while FIFA’s mandatory 21-day rest period ran its course. That wait is over.
Rashford, Mainoo and Martinez still ruled out
The same three-week stand-down that held back the Belgian now sidelines some of United’s biggest names. England duo Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo, along with Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez, remain unavailable as they serve out their post-World Cup break.
Benjamin Sesko is missing for a very different reason. The forward is still troubled by the shin injury that cut short his season last term, and the club is unwilling to gamble with him in pre-season.
Senne Lammens and Matheus Cunha are also absent. Cunha only returned to training this week after his own exertions with Brazil at the tournament, but both he and Lammens are currently recovering from minor, unrelated illnesses. United expect them to rejoin the group at next week’s training camp in the Republic of Ireland, where a historic meeting with Leeds at Croke Park in Dublin awaits on Wednesday night.
Fernandes back, Dalot and Mazraoui travel
Carrick has named a 22-man travelling squad for the PSG clash, and it is captained once more by Bruno Fernandes. The midfielder’s presence immediately lifts the look of a group that has been shorn of so much World Cup talent.
Defenders Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui also come back into the fold. Of that experienced trio, only Mazraoui is handed a place in the starting XI, underlining Carrick’s need to balance rhythm with recovery in these early weeks of his tenure.
Up front, Bryan Mbeumo keeps his place after making himself difficult to ignore. The forward struck twice in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, a performance that effectively locked in his role as Carrick’s spearhead for this latest test.
There is no place this time for 15-year-old JJ Gabriel or fellow youngster Jim Thwaites. Both teenagers tasted senior football for the first time in that victory over Atletico, but they drop out here as Carrick leans towards experience against elite opposition.
Goalkeeping department stripped back
If the outfield options look thin, the goalkeeping situation is even more stark.
Altay Bayindir is out of the picture after finalising a loan move to Celta Vigo on Friday. With Lammens ill and new signing Karl Darlow still unavailable following minor surgery carried out while he was at Leeds late last season, United travel light between the posts.
Radek Vitek’s permanent move to Middlesbrough, a deal worth up to £14 million, has further trimmed the depth chart. The result is a pecking order that places 40-year-old Tom Heaton as the undisputed No 1 for now, with Dermot Mee and teenager Fred Heath acting as his understudies.
Heaton starts again against PSG, a veteran presence behind a squad in flux.
Injury blows deepen selection headache
Carrick’s midfield puzzle is complicated not just by World Cup fatigue but by serious injury. Manuel Ugarte faces months out after undergoing surgery in July on the knee injury he suffered playing for Uruguay at the tournament. His absence strips United of a powerful, combative option in the middle just as the season’s foundations are being laid.
At the back, Matthijs de Ligt is still not ready to return from a long-term back problem. His continued rehabilitation leaves United short of a commanding, senior centre-back as they try to build defensive cohesion in pre-season.
So Carrick walks into his first major summer test with PSG knowing exactly where his squad stands: rich in promise, light on numbers, and already carrying the scars of a World Cup that refuses to let go.
