Erik ten Hag concerned Manchester United are “not ready” for Fulham
Manchester United take on Fulham in the 2024/25 Premier League opener
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has expressed concern that his team is “not ready” for their Premier League opener against Fulham on Friday.
Although United bolstered their squad with the signings of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, the pair only arrived on Thursday and have had limited opportunities to train with their new teammates.
This leaves Ten Hag facing a selection dilemma ahead of the match at Old Trafford.
In addition to this, Ten Hag is dealing with a number of injuries within the squad.
Defender Luke Shaw has been sidelined with a calf injury, while new £52 million signing Leny Yoro was ruled out for three months at the beginning of August.
Forward Rasmus Højlund is also unavailable due to a hamstring problem.
United spent close to £60 million to secure the signings of De Ligt and Mazraoui from Bayern Munich, but the lack of preparation time means their immediate impact remains uncertain.
“The team is not ready but the league starts,” said Ten Hag.
“We can’t hide from it. We have to deal with it.”
Erik ten Hag is confronted with a left-back selection headache, with Luke Shaw out due to a calf injury and Tyrell Malacia unavailable for another two months as he recovers from knee surgery.
One possible solution is Noussair Mazraoui, while Diogo Dalot and Lisandro Martínez provided cover during last Saturday’s Community Shield.
Shaw has not featured for Manchester United since February and has yet to make an appearance this summer, despite being fit enough to represent England at Euro 2024.
However, Ten Hag remains confident that Shaw will be back to full fitness soon.
“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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