Man Utd 2026-27 season preview: Biggest trophies likely to be out of Michael Carrick’s reach after conservative summer transfer window

United played six game in total during pre-season, recording only two wins alongside two draws and two defeats. Their best performance came in a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in Sweden, with Bryan Mbeumo grabbing both goals and academy graduate Shea Lacey also catching the eye, while 15-year-old sensation JJ Gabriel made his senior debut from the bench.

Dan Armer, Jim Thwaites and Jacob Devaney are among the other youngsters who have shone, most notably in a 5-0 rout of Rosenborg, while the 1-1 draw against back-to-back Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain saw the whole team put in an encouraging shift. Across the whole summer, Mbuemo, Santos, Leny Yoro and Patrick Dorgu emerged as the standout performers, all of whom will be expected to have strong seasons under Carrick.

However, a chastening 4-2 defeat to AC Milan in their final game came as a reality check for the Red Devils. Carrick was outfoxed by former United manager Amorim, and the Rossoneri would have won by an even wider margin had it not been for Senne Lammens’ brilliance between the sticks.

“I think, as a whole, it’s been very good,” Carrick told MUTV when asked to assess the tour. “There are a lot of positives to take from it. I think a lot of the performances, the group’s grown and got stronger. Barring today, we’re disappointed with today. We didn’t play well today, so there’s reasons for that. We need to learn from [it]. We need to improve.

“But on the whole, we’re ready for next week. I think a lot of the boys will be better for the minutes and we’ve done a lot of work on the training pitch. I think the performances in the games have been pretty good, so we’re still in good spirits going into next week.”