After a strong end to the overall disappointing 2025/2026 campaign, Manchester United start another new season with a new permanent manager in the dugout as Michael Carrick will be keen to continue his impressive start from the interim spell. In a season that sees a return to the Champions League, higher expectations to qualify again in the league and hope of domestic cup runs after exiting at the first time of asking, it’s bound to be a big season ahead.

In this series of posts, we’re looking at the squad available to Carrick for the upcoming campaign, after four first team additions have come in alongside several confirmed outgoings and a few changes in the age group sides as some players could be making a step up this campaign.

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Centre-Midfield

The centre of the midfield for Manchester United has been the huge focus of the summer transfer window for the club. With 3 first team arrivals who can all offer slightly different styles and options for Carrick, the midfield has been hit by the outgoing Casemiro, the Ugarte long-term injury and recent years of underinvestment, however they now have a stacked set of options to try and control games.

Kobbie Mainoo remains the constant for United, and despite having no minutes for England this summer, fans will be certain he can return to club football with the full support of the club and fanbase as a beloved homegrown talent. It’s likely he will be utilised alongside some of the new additions and could rotate through the season depending on the opponent and feel of a game.

He is joined by the surprise signing of Youri Tielemans, as the experienced former Villa man made a shock move across to Manchester United as they gain some of the lost experience from Casemiro, however they have a real leader and player who can slot instantly into the squad through a big season. Additionally, Andre Santos and Carlos Baleba both have Premier League experience, but both have question marks, as Santos has impressed in his Ligue 1 spell but struggled for regular game-time at Chelsea, while Carlos Baleba had a drop in form last season amid the previous links for a move to Old Trafford. Theres real potential in this midfield, and while 29 year old Tielemans is the older head, 21 year old Mainoo, 22 year old Baleba and 22 year old Santos could have United sorted for another 5+ years in their midfield.

There’s still hope around the youngsters of Tyler Fletcher, Jim Thwaites and Cristian Orozco who could all see minutes this season and put their names in contention, however they are likely to have most of the season in the U21 setup this campaign.

Finally, we’ve seen Mason Mount playing in the central role at times in pre-season, this could signify a potential position change for Mount who has struggled for game time ahead of Bruno Fernandes, however with the recent recruits settling in, he may be back in the battle for the no.10 role behind the captain.

Attacking-Midfield

The no.10 role for United is simply not up for debate, as captain fantastic Bruno Fernandes comes back after his record breaking campaign ready to hopefully repeat this success in creating opportunities, scoring himself and guiding the team in his leadership. In any other era, Bruno Fernandes would be hauling in the trophies for United as a world beater, and yet he continues to persevere with the club despite serious offers from elsewhere. While United fans get exactly how good Fernandes is and what he offers for the club, after last season this recognition is expanding more around the footballing world.

Waiting in the wings, is Mason Mount, whose move to United still remains a bit confusing, as both the player and club would have known he is unlikely to displace Bruno, but as we’ve seen in pre-season he might take his chance in the central roles of the midfield, while he could also have opportunities if United are to manage Bruno’s minutes this season instead of playing every second.

There are other options for this role also within the squad, as Cunha could be forced centrally if Rashford can reclaim the left side of the attack, Kobbie Mainoo had a brief run in that role previously and impressed at points, Amad could be interested in this position if he can’t rotate with Mbeumo and there’s several youngsters including Shea Lacey, Jack Fletcher and possibly even JJ Gabriel who could feature in this advanced midfield position at points this season if required.