The first Premier League game of the 2024–25 season will be played at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Fulham. For the Red Devils, the last few months have been very rough. Manager Erik ten Hag’s future was uncertain until he signed a new deal before preseason began.
The Theatre of Dreams will still get to see Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, and Noussair Mazraoui play for the first time as part of a new United team, even though Leny Yoro is hurt. However, Manchester United has been linked with three more signings. This means that Ten Hag may be able to put together not only his dream team, but also a team that can fight at the top of the Premier League.The 54-year-old would love to pick his own back five, but they are all already at the club. Though, only 80% of them will be open from the start on Friday night. The Dutch coach still has faith in Andre Onana and hopes that a higher defensive line will help the Cameroonian do well in his job as a sweeper goalkeeper. The United player Diogo Dalot was one of the most reliable ones last season and looks like he could become a future captain for the team.
People in the Stretford End will be jumping up and down with joy if De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez play together at center back. This pair’s quality also takes the heat off of wonderkid Yoro, who will have enough time to grow once he heals from breaking his metatarsal.
Then there’s Luke Shaw. The English player has a chance to be the best left back in the league when he’s healthy. But, as always with the former Southampton player, it depends on whether he is healthy. Shaw hasn’t played for United since February, and the 29-year-old is likely to be out for a month with a leg injury. This gives new player Mazraoui a chance to show who the real threat is until Shaw returns.
There will still be rumors about Ten Hag and Frenkie De Jong getting back together until either he leaves Manchester United or is fired. As soon as his old manager arrived at Carrington, it was clear that the highest-paid La Liga player was his top priority. However, three summer windows later, a move has still not happened.
Even so, there is a lot of talk about a move because Barcelona is having money problems and the player makes a lot of money. If the chance came up, it seems likely that United’s manager would jump at the chance to pair De Jong with Kobbie Mainoo in the middle of the field. Only a little less than a year into his time with the senior team, the 19-year-old has already become one of the most important players on the team.
It’s not a surprise that leader Bruno Fernandes is now on the team. In the last few months, the Portuguese star has looked like he was back to his best, so United fans will be very happy to see him sign a better deal. While the two behind him help and come up with ideas for deep, Fernandes can focus on being dangerous in the closing third, where he is most useful.Only Alejandro Garnacho is a Red Devil right now out of the dream front three. Markus Rashford and Jadon Sancho can’t play on the left side because of this. The Argentinian youngster has shown maturity and regularity beyond his years to earn his manager’s trust.
On the other side, there is room for improvement. Since he did so well on tour this summer, Amad Diallo is ready for a big season. The Ivorian seems to have taken over Antony’s job, which in England is only holding on by a thread. Getting Raphinha instead, who is also Brazilian and has already done well in the Premier League, seems like a safe bet.In the middle, it’s crazy to think that no one picked up Ivan Toney when it looked like the English player was going to leave Brentford. But Old Trafford might be the best place for him to go. Rasmus Hojlund is still getting better, and Joshua Zirkzee has said that he’s not a true number nine. Toney scores a lot of goals, which is an area of the game where United has often suffered under Ten Hag.