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What's the story
Manchester United have officially announced their squad of players who will take part in the upcoming pre-season fixtures in preparation for next season.
The club took to its official Twitter handle to make the announcement with regular first-teamers like David De Gea, Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba, and Victor Lindelof all part of the squad while new signings Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James were also included.
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However, some first-teamers are notably missing from the list including Fred and Alexis Sanchez.
In case you didn't know
Manchester United finished in a disappointing 6th position last season and Ole Gunner Solksjaer will use his first pre-season with the team to gauge the players as he plots to take the Red Devils back to the top.
Also see : Manchester united Transfer News, Arsenal Transfer News, EPL Transfer News.
The 46-year-old had earlier promised to give most of the Manchester United players a chance to prove themselves during pre-season, stating:
"Yeah, there is going to be a chance for everyone".
"They are all going to be a part of this. Well, most of them anyway.
"I always felt the first couple of weeks (of pre-season) was a big chance for me to impress the gaffer and to show him that I am ready for the season."
Speaking on the inclusion of youth team players like Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong, he said:
"Yeah, they’re fit and young and healthy," he added.
"They have impressed, to be fair, and you can see some of them have been training over the summer because they are not going to feel that burnout.
"And the intensity of this training is a bit harder for them, so they’ve prepared well and held their own, to be fair.”
The heart of the matter
Although no official information was released on the absences of some first teamers, it is believed that Fred was given an extended leave of absence due to his upcoming marriage, as his fiancee has been making a lot of wedding related posts on social media.
Dean Henderson's absence indicates that Manchester United are confident in De Gea signing a new contract as Henderson was initially expected to be on standby for the tour, but he is still on holiday, with Joel Perreira taking his place.
Alexis Sanchez was understandably given an extended break due to his exertions at the ongoing Copa America, but the muscular injury he picked up against Argentina could prolong his return to Manchester United.
What's next?
United begin their pre-season tour with a trip to Australia where they would face A-League side Perth Glory on July 13.
After Perth Glory, United face Leeds United in Perth on July 17. The next stage of their tour sees them head to Singapore to take on Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup on July 20, a competition which also sees them play Tottenham in Shanghai on the 25th.
The Red Devils will then return to Europe to take on Kristiansund in Solskjaer's native Norway on the 30th of July and finally AC Milan in Cardiff on August 3rd before their Premier League campaign opens at Old Trafford against Chelsea on August 11th.
