Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has expressed concern that his team is “not ready” for Friday’s Premier League opener against Fulham (20:00 BST).
New signings Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, who only arrived on Thursday, will be included in the squad.
However, their limited time to train with their new teammates has left Ten Hag with a selection dilemma for the match at Old Trafford.
Additionally, defender Luke Shaw is sidelined with a calf injury, new £52 million defender Leny Yoro was ruled out for three months at the beginning of August, and forward Rasmus Hojlund is dealing with a hamstring problem.
United have committed to spending close to £60 million by bringing defenders De Ligt and Mazraoui to the club from Bayern Munich.
“The team is not ready but the league starts,” said Ten Hag.
“There are more managers who definitely have this problem but we have to make a start.
“We can’t hide from it. We can’t run away from it. We have to deal with it.”
United’s other summer signing, Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkee, was an unused substitute during the Community Shield defeat by Manchester City and could make his debut against Fulham.
Ten Hag faces a selection dilemma at left-back, with Shaw sidelined due to a calf injury and Tyrell Malacia ruled out for another two months as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
Mazraoui could be an option, while Diogo Dalot and Lisandro Martinez stepped in during last Saturday’s Community Shield.
Despite these selection challenges, Ten Hag still expects to field a strong line-up.
“It’s not about the players who are not available,” the Dutchman said.
“It’s also what I said always last season: it’s about the players who are available and we have a good group, we can make a strong selection.”
Shaw has not featured for United since February, chiefly because of a hamstring injury, although he was eventually fit enough to play for England at Euro 2024.
Ten Hag is confident Shaw will be ready soon and is looking forward to him returning.
“He will return in the short term,” Ten Hag said. “It doesn’t take long.
“Luke is a very important player for our team so we want to get him back as soon as possible but we can’t force this process.”
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