While all of the focus was on Erik ten Hag on Thursday, it was business as usual for Manchester United’s players as they gear up for the weekend’s clash with Arsenal.
It will be all change at Old Trafford in the summer after Ten Hag was officially confirmed as the club’s new manager, with the current Ajax boss set to take over at the end of the season. Before then, United still have five games to try and revive their stuttering top-four hopes.
Their Champions League dreams were dealt a huge blow this week as they suffered a heavy defeat at Liverpool, with Arsenal then picking up a big win at Chelsea a day later. It leaves United three points off fourth having played a game more than their rivals.
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They’ll get the chance on Saturday to claw back some ground on the Gunners, and United’s players were hard at work at Carrington ahead of their trip to north London. Here are five things we spotted from United’s latest training pictures.
Ronaldo returns
The world of football showed their support for Cristiano Ronaldo this week following the sad news of the passing of his newborn son. Understandably, the news meant the Portuguese ace missed Tuesday’s game against Liverpool.
It was therefore great to see Ronaldo back at Carrington and training with the rest of his teammates. We’ll hopefully get to see him back on Saturday against Arsenal.
Injury boosts
There were a couple of welcome sights on the injury front at Carrington. Chief among them was the return of Raphael Varane, with United certainly missing the French defender in recent games.
Scott McTominay was also back and getting stuck in after making the bench on Tuesday night. With injuries rocking United’s midfield, the Scotland international’s return will be a relief to Ralf Rangnick.
No sign of Pogba
Having exited the field after less than 10 minutes at Anfield, speculation has already begun as to whether we’ve seen the last of Paul Pogba in a United shirt. For the time being, it seems he could be missing this weekend having not been spotted in the latest training pictures.
There was also no sign of fellow midfielder Fred. Rangnick will no doubt give an update on the pair at his press conference on Friday.
Hannibal’s on the ball
Having impressed with his late cameo at Anfield in midweek, Hannibal Mejbri will be hoping to get another chance at the Emirates this weekend. Fans have already been calling for him to get more opportunities before the end of the season.
The 19-year-old was in the thick of the action again in training, holding off Bruno Fernandes and Varane as he makes a claim for a start on Saturday. We’ll see whether he did enough to impress Rangnick.
Youngsters vying for places
Hannibal wasn’t the only one in training looking to catch the eye ahead of the weekend. Plenty of the club’s other youngsters were involved as they aim to impress before the end of the season.
Alejandro Garnacho, Alvaro Fernandez and Shola Shoretire were once again thrown into the mix. United fans will no doubt relish the opportunity to potentially see them in action before the end of the campaign.
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