Man Utd announce squad for pre-season games in Thailand and Australia - with key man missing

Manchester United have announced their squad for the upcoming pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia with Cristiano Ronaldo amongst four senior players absent.

The Red Devils will take on Liverpool in their opening friendly game on Tuesday in the Bangkok Cup, but will be without Ronaldo, Phil Jones, Brandon Williams and Andreas Pereira for their tour of both nations.

Ronaldo’s absence will be a big one for United after the 37-year-old netted 24 goals in all competitions for them last season.

Erik ten Hag does however have a 31-man squad to choose from for their pre-season schedule, which also includes games against Melbourne Victory (15 July), Crystal Palace (19 July) and Aston Villa (July 23).

Amongst those selected is new summer signing Tyrell Malacia, as well as 13 academy graduates, including James Garner, Alejandro Garnacho, Ethan Laird and Zidane Iqbal to name a few.

With no Ronaldo available due to family reasons, Ten Hag will be relying on forward options such as Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to lead the line.

Rashford finished the club’s joint-fourth top scorer last season with five goals in all competitions, while Martial netted once before joining Sevilla on loan in January.

The Red Devils will don their new home kit which was released on Friday against Liverpool, with Bruno Fernandes set to take to the pitch wearing the no.8 shirt for the first time.

Fernandes wore the no.18 shirt upon his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020, but has switched to the no.8 following Juan Mata’s departure at the beginning of the month.

Here is the full 31-man squad travelling to Thailand and Australia for the first part of United’s pre-season tour outside of England.

Goalkeepers

David De Gea

Tom Heaton

Nathan Bishop

Matej Kovar

Defenders

Eric Bailly

Diogo Dalot

Ethan Laird

Victor Lindelof

Harry Maguire

Tyrell Malacia

Luke Shaw

Alex Telles

Axel Tuanzebe

Raphael Varane

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Midfielders

Amad

Bruno Fernandes

Fred

James Garner

Hannibal

Zidane Iqbal

Scott McTominay

Facundo Pellistri

Charlie Savage

Donny van de Beek

Tahith Chong

Anthony Elanga

Alejandro Garnacho

Anthony Martial

Marcus Rashford

Jadon Sancho