Manchester United Pre-Season Friendly in Helsinki: Carrick's Squad Insights

Manchester United’s summer reset begins in Helsinki, and Michael Carrick has shown his hand.

The club has confirmed its squad for a pre-season friendly against Wrexham, the first outing of a tour designed to sharpen legs and harden decisions after a resurgent finish to last season. Two new signings are missing. One new face, though, stands out at the heart of it all.

Carrick’s first camp as permanent boss

United closed the 2025/26 campaign with something they had been starved of: momentum. A third-place finish, Champions League football secured, and a fanbase finally watching a side moving in the right direction again. It was enough to turn Carrick’s caretaker stint into a full-time appointment, the former midfielder stepping out from the shadows and into the job he once seemed destined for.

Now comes the less glamorous, but just as crucial, part of the work. No trophies, no fireworks. Just running, repetition and decisions. The starting point: Wrexham in Helsinki.

Not all of Carrick’s senior players are back. Those who skipped the World Cup have already returned to Carrington and are building towards August, while others are still on extended breaks. The squad for this first friendly reflects that blend of returning experience, fresh signings and academy ambition.

Santos headlines, Tielemans and Darlow stay home

The headline inclusion is Andrey Santos. Signed from Chelsea earlier this month, the Brazilian midfielder steps straight into Carrick’s plans for the trip and will get an early chance to show why United moved for him.

Two other arrivals, though, are nowhere to be seen.

Youri Tielemans, a £35million signing from Aston Villa after United triggered his release clause, has been given extra time off following Belgium’s World Cup run. Roberto Martínez’s side – the “other” Red Devils – went out in the quarter-finals to Spain, and Tielemans has been granted a longer breather before he joins the grind of his new club.

Karl Darlow also misses out on the travelling party, with the experienced goalkeeper not listed among the options heading to Finland.

Youth, fringe and a few familiar faces

Carrick’s group for Wrexham is heavy on potential and opportunity. There are just enough established names to give it structure, but this is a squad built to test the depth of the club’s pathway.

• Goalkeepers: Tom Heaton, Radek Vitek, Dermot Mee.

Heaton’s presence offers a steady hand and voice behind a young back line, while Vitek and Mee continue their push for recognition.

• Defenders: Harry Maguire, Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu, Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw, Ayden Heaven, Harry Amass, Jaydan Kamason, Dan Armer.

Maguire and Shaw bring international experience, but around them is a cluster of youth and new names. Leny Yoro’s inclusion adds intrigue, while the likes of Dorgu, Amass and Heaven will view this as a rare window to impress the manager in a senior environment.

• Midfielders: Mason Mount, Andrey Santos, Jack Fletcher, Tyler Fletcher, Toby Collyer, Dan Gore, Jacob Devaney, Jim Thwaites.

Mount’s return offers a creative and tactical reference point. Around him, Santos will be closely watched, his first United minutes likely to draw most of the attention. The Fletcher twins, Gore and Collyer headline a group of youngsters desperate to turn training-ground praise into matchday trust.

• Forwards: Joshua Zirkzee, Bryan Mbeumo, Chido Obi, Ethan Wheatley, Shea Lacey, Ethan Williams.

Up front, Joshua Zirkzee leads a line that blends promise and unpredictability. Bryan Mbeumo’s inclusion gives the squad a proven top-flight attacker, while academy products like Lacey and Wheatley will relish the chance to test themselves under the spotlight.

For many of these players, Wrexham is more than a tune-up. It is an audition.

A demanding pre-season road map

Helsinki is only the opening chapter. Once the Wrexham test is done, United head to Norway for a meeting with Rosenborg, a fixture that should raise both the tempo and the hostility of the environment.

Stockholm comes next. Atletico Madrid await there, fresh from a Champions League semi-final run and exactly the kind of side that will expose any early-season rust or tactical uncertainty.

Then the schedule sharpens again. Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds United and AC Milan line up as the 20-time English champions build towards a Premier League start that offers little room for complacency.

Hull City away in mid-August will open the domestic campaign, followed by Ipswich Town at Old Trafford – back-to-back games against newly promoted clubs that can so often trip up teams still searching for rhythm. After that, the run toughens quickly: Everton, Manchester City and Fulham before an extended two-week autumn international break.

Somewhere in that early stretch, United will also step into unfamiliar territory. Their Champions League campaign will begin under the revamped League Phase format, a new landscape that will demand both depth and adaptability from Carrick’s squad.

For now, though, it starts with a plane to Finland, a mixed squad sheet and a manager looking around the dressing room, deciding who belongs in his United for the season ahead.