Manchester United Faces PSG: Tielemans Set for Debut

Youri Tielemans is finally on the plane. Senne Lammens and Matheus Cunha are not.

As Manchester United head to Gothenburg for a glamour pre-season clash with Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, Michael Carrick’s squad carries both a sense of promise and a couple of notable gaps.

Tielemans era begins

Tielemans, signed from Aston Villa last month for around £35million, is in line to pull on a United shirt for the first time at the Nya Ullevi Stadium on Saturday.

The 29-year-old midfielder only joined up with the squad last week after a post-World Cup break, having helped Belgium reach the quarter-finals in North America. His move, sealed on a five-year deal running to 2031, brings a player hardened by spells at Leicester, Monaco and Anderlecht into Carrick’s evolving midfield.

He sat out the 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in the Snapdragon Cup at Stockholm’s Strawberry Arena, where a second-half brace from Bryan Mbeumo turned the game United’s way. Now he steps into the matchday squad, part of a 22-man group heading to Sweden to face the back-to-back European champions.

For Carrick, this is the first real glimpse of how Tielemans might mesh with his existing core.

Captain back at the helm

Alongside the Belgian, Bruno Fernandes is also ready to rejoin the action.

The United captain has reported back this week following his own World Cup holiday and is expected to feature, restoring the on-field conductor who shaped so much of last season’s attacking play. Portugal team-mate Diogo Dalot is back too, as are Brazilian forward Cunha and Morocco defender Noussair Mazraoui.

The return of Fernandes instantly changes the feel of United’s midfield options. Tielemans, Mason Mount, Andrey Santos and the captain himself offer Carrick a blend of control, running and creativity that he has been assembling piece by piece since taking charge.

Two key absentees stay home

Yet just as United’s squad begins to look close to full strength, two important names drop out.

Despite being back in the fold at Carrington, Cunha and first-choice goalkeeper Lammens will both miss the PSG game. United have confirmed the pair will remain at the training ground to “fully recover from non-related minor illnesses”, with the expectation that they will rejoin the group during next week’s camp in the Republic of Ireland.

Their absence bites hardest in goal. Lammens is out, new signing Karl Darlow is also unavailable, and Altay Bayindir and Radek Vitek have departed for Celta Vigo and Middlesbrough respectively. That leaves veteran Tom Heaton as the senior option, backed up by Dermot Mee and teenager Fred Heath.

For a high-profile test against Europe’s elite, it is a stripped-back goalkeeping department.

Injuries, holidays and a stretched squad

United’s resources are being pulled in several directions at once.

Striker Benjamin Sesko remains sidelined by the shin injury that has lingered from last season. At the back, Matthijs de Ligt is still not ready to return from a long-term back issue, depriving Carrick of a major defensive presence for the tour’s showpiece fixture.

Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez are all still on holiday after their World Cup exertions and will only link up with the squad in Ireland. For now, they remain absent from the matchday picture, even as the new Premier League season edges closer.

Fifteen-year-old JJ Gabriel, who made his senior debut off the bench against Atletico, drops out this weekend. So do fellow youngsters Jim Thwaites, Jaydan Kamason and Ethan Williams. Heath steps in to replace Bayindir, while Harry Amass, Dan Armer, Jack Fletcher, Tyler Fletcher and Shea Lacey all keep their places in the travelling group.

Joshua Zirkzee is also included, despite heavy links with a summer exit. For the Dutch forward, this tour could yet double as both shop window and audition.

Carrick’s first full season taking shape

Beyond the immediate challenge of PSG, United’s pre-season has a clear structure.

After Gothenburg, the squad heads to Ireland for a training camp, culminating in a meeting with rivals Leeds at Croke Park in Dublin on August 12. Four days later, they round off their summer schedule against AC Milan in Wroclaw, Poland.

Then comes the real thing. On August 22, United open the new Premier League campaign away to Championship play-off winners Hull, a landmark date as Carrick begins his first season as permanent manager after a successful interim spell.

By then, Tielemans should be bedded in, Fernandes fully up to speed, and the missing pieces — Lammens, Cunha, Sesko, De Ligt, Rashford, Martinez, Mainoo — back in the fold.

For now, though, all eyes are on Sweden, a reshuffled squad and the first glimpse of how Carrick’s rebuilt United stands up to the standard-setters of Europe.

Manchester United squad to face PSG

• Goalkeepers: Tom Heaton, Dermot Mee, Fred Heath
• Defenders: Harry Amass, Dan Armer, Patrick Dorgu, Diogo Dalot, Ayden Heaven, Harry Maguire, Noussair Mazraoui, Luke Shaw, Leny Yoro
• Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Jack Fletcher, Tyler Fletcher, Mason Mount, Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans
• Forwards: Amad Diallo, Shea Lacey, Bryan Mbeumo, Joshua Zirkzee