As Manchester United departed Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday, emotions were mixed following a narrow 1-0 loss to Wrexham. However, anticipation loomed large for the upcoming season under the guidance of Michael Carrick.

Their first pre-season match served as a chance to shake off the rust. United hasn’t yet hit their stride with some key figures in Carrick’s strategy still enjoying post-World Cup breaks, while many rising stars from the academy are vying to solidify their places in the team as the new season beckons.

Among the newcomers, midfielder Andrey Santos has made a positive impression on his teammates with his vigorous training sessions. Meanwhile, keeper Karl Darlow is recovering from a minor injury after undergoing surgery late last season, and Youri Tielemans, who is also on a break, are yet to make their presence felt.

Carrick’s transformative influence is still gaining steam. Join Daily Mail Sport as we explore the current landscape ahead of this week’s second pre-season clash against Norwegian club Rosenborg in Trondheim, set for Friday.

WHAT’S THE LATEST WITH DEFENDERS?

United need to assess the extent of the injury suffered by Lisandro Martinez in the World Cup final before deciding if a new centre back needs boosting up the shopping list.

Matthijs de Ligt is set to miss the start of the season while he recovers from back surgery, leaving Harry Maguire, Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro as the only senior centre back options.

United feel well stocked at right back with Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, both of whom can play on the left too, but Carrick is keen to have a reliable ball-playing centre back in his line-up to help break the lines, something Martinez excels at. 

The two have a very close relationship and the extent of Martinez’s injury issue is likely to put significant weight on whether a new central defender – United were keen on Murillo before he signed a new deal with Nottingham Forest – is back on the agenda.

Left back is a position higher up the priority list, largely because Luke Shaw starting every game last season has to be seen as an anomaly, as positive as it was.

Left back Harry Amass is determined to leave a lasting impression during pre-season and was among the stand-outs for United in Helsinki. But there is significant Championship interest in him and the feeling is that a late move will be sanctioned, particularly if Patrick Dorgu’s role is re-allocated from wing back to full back.

A nugget of information from academy circles: there is A-League interest from Australia in rising star full-back James Overy, while Rangers are also monitoring him. One to watch.

WHAT NEXT FOR THE MIDFIELD REBUILD?

This is the defining area of the pitch for United to get right and has been the focus of months and months of meetings by Ineos and the decision-makers at Old Trafford.

Carrick wants United to play with greater control next season so they can dominate matches and not rely on playing in transition, which they did effectively for so much of his time in charge last term.

Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo worked well as a partnership but the emphasis at United this summer has been to find a combination of midfielders who can disrupt their opponents while also being able to dictate from a deeper base.

United’s top target was Elliot Anderson before that move became too much of a stretch financially and he went to Manchester City for £116million. Similarly Mateus Fernandes, whom many inside United were convinced would join, went to Tottenham Hotspur for £85m.

Those missed targets ultimately led them back to a player who they wanted when Alejandro Garnacho went to Chelsea, and another that figures inside United believe could be the pound-for-pound signing of the season.

Santos was requested by United as part of the Garnacho deal, only for Chelsea to shoot that down. But now they have their man. And the Brazil international is viewed as someone who has the natural instincts to play as a No 6, a more defensive screening midfielder, in front of the defence. He is expected to provide the midfield protection that was severely lacking in the final knockings of the Erik ten Hag era, and often a bone of contention during Ruben Amorim’s reign.

Then there is Youri Tielemans. United activated his £35m release clause, a deal they desperately tried to keep under wraps as part of a concerted effort to do their business in the shadows and away from the media. 

The Belgian is Premier League proven, a player United believe can dictate matches, and should ease the creative burden on Bruno Fernandes in front of him.

United still want a third midfielder and they hold interest in Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, who declined to sign a new contract on Tuesday, Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi, Roma’s Manu Kone, Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid and Fulham’s Sander Berge – and this is the signing that stylistically should tell us a lot about Carrick’s United.

The expectation is that he will stick with the 4-2-3-1 system that served him so well last season, allowing Fernandes to flourish as the No 10, with two players, one more defensive than the other, at the base of midfield.

But a move for Scott, over say, Kone, would allow United to hold the tactical flexibility for a more ball-dominant 4-3-3 that Paris Saint-Germain, for example, have used to great effect.

United sources have been more tight-lipped than ever about Ineos’ thinking, but what is abundantly clear is United won’t overpay for players, won’t pay enormous wages, and want to continue to pull rabbits out of the hat just when you think you’ve figured out their next move.

IS CARRICK SETTLED ON HIS GOALKEEPERS?

Yes. Senne Lammens is his No 1 and there are no question marks about the Belgian despite his costly error against Spain in their World Cup quarter-final.

Team-mates, including fellow goalkeeper Tom Heaton, have already reached out to Lammens and the sense inside the United camp is that the summer adversity can actually make him a better goalkeeper in the long run, to United’s benefit.

Landing a back-up goalkeeper early in the summer was seen as essential and the free agent move for Darlow frees up Altay Bayindir and Radek Vitek to depart. 

Depending on who you speak to at United, some sources believe a realistic fee for Vitek comes in at around £15m, with the Czech shot-stopper open to leaving permanently, which appears, as of now, to be United’s preferred route.

‘I’m ready to go somewhere again and hopefully be No 1,’ Vitek told a few of us after the Helsinki match. ‘There has been a few (clubs) on the table. We’re hoping to choose the best one and hopefully it will happen soon.’

The move to keep Heaton around was seen as imperative by all because of his experience and his leadership in the dressing room; a key conduit between the players and staff. 

The goalkeepers are set: 1. Lammens. 2. Darlow. 3. Heaton.

ANY YOUNGSTERS WHO CAN CHIP IN?

Simply put, United have too many young players that have outgrown academy football but are also not ready to be thrust into the first team.

There are a lot of youngsters determined to find a role for themselves in the squad for next season, not least with United’s budget unable to stretch to refreshing every position, but also because Carrick and his staff have an immense amount of data on each of them.

Amass is particularly interesting at left back, while midfielder Jacob Devaney, who shone out on loan with St Mirren, is among those fighting to be the additional midfielder promoted from the academy for the coming season.

Tyler Fletcher has loan interest from Kilmarnock but wants to stay and fight for his place, while others such as Sekou Kone (Lausanne), Jack Moorhouse (countless options across League One, as well as abroad), and Jack Fletcher (lots of EFL loan interest) are expected to play elsewhere.

Chido Obi did not get on in Helsinki and there is a degree of uncertainty about the next best move for him. Some inside United are reluctant to send him out on loan but there is also an acknowledgement that he needs to be tested after spending the entirety of last season in the academy set-up.

Cristian Orozco, the physical defensive midfielder who has arrived from Fortaleza after turning 18, will start with the club’s Under 21s before being assessed for his suitability to be in and around the first team. David Eze and Karim Cassim are two Man City youth players United are focused on acquiring this summer as part of their aggressive academy recruitment drive, too.

HOW IS THE LEFT WING LOOKING?

The £8m signing of Tynan Thompson only added to the intrigue around what is happening on the left wing.

Thompson has joined from Tottenham Hotspur as an Emerging Talent Signing, similar to the 2025 deal for Heaven, which has since proved a steal. While Thompson will have to earn a shot at the first team, a key part of the vision sold to the player was that the pathway is right in front of him, as evidenced by Heaven.

Speaking to one key figure in the England player pathway, Daily Mail Sport was told that Thompson is a ‘United-type winger from the 90s’ who will bring a strong one-versus-one ability which has been missing off the left across United’s academy sides.

Adding to the left wing conundrum is the fact Marcus Rashford and his £325,000-a-week contract remains on the books after Barcelona passed up on the chance to sign him, while Dorgu has been viewed as a winger, rather than a left back option, under Carrick.

Noah Ajayi, a 17-year-old who is one of the academy’s brightest players and was in line to play a part in pre-season until an ankle injury put paid to that, needs to see a pathway is there for him, too, amid interest from top clubs in Germany, Italy and Portugal.

Interest in West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville, who is now bound for Saudi Arabia, was dependent on any potential exit for Rashford, while the role of Dorgu further complicates recruitment. Should Rashford, who doesn’t have an allocated squad number at United right now, be fully reintroduced, he will expect to be a major factor out on the left.

IS ANOTHER CENTRE FORWARD AN OPTION?

Sesko’s shin injury is a lingering problem for United and there is a real lack of depth up top. Matheus Cunha is capable in that position, as is Bryan Mbeumo, and Carrick does like the false-nine approach, particularly in games where United are not expecting to dominate the ball.

United are open to moving on Joshua Zirkzee but he is one of the most popular members of the dressing room and is eager to fight for his place with more games available now United are back in Europe.