Manchester United Newsletter - Tuesday 12th July
Covering: Manchester United's pre-season kicks-off against Liverpool, Barcelona close sale for De Jong, Eriksen medical, new podcast, squad in Bangkok, Maguire keeps armband...
Good morning!
It’s been a while since you’ve had regular updates from our newsletter. I am delighted to tell you they are back with the new season as we assess each game on the pre-season tour. Thanks for remaining subscribed!
United get down to business early on with a fixture against arch-rivals Liverpool for Erik ten Hag’s first game in charge. It’s always a tasty affair and I’d like to see fans in Thailand experience some of the bite the fixture is renowned for, even if it’s only a friendly match.
It feels weird to write ‘friendly’ for a game that sees us come up against Liverpool Liverpool. Although, that didn’t stop Jurgen Klopp getting the sly digs in early on.
That said, all I ever ask for from these games is for everyone to escape injury or niggle free. It’s about the players preparing for the new season and getting as many minutes as possible under their belt to reach full fitness. They need to make the most of this time with Ten Hag because this is when he will be laying out his foundations for future success.
Ten Hag enjoyed his first press conference on tour as United manager as he shared a gift with the friendly match organiser before briefing the press. While they bombarded with questions over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, he was well able for the tricks of the trade as journalists tried to get updates out of him. They were unsuccessful in their attempts as Ten Hag smiled on.
We covered all the updates on Frenkie de Jong throughout the night – from United setting a Friday deadline to complete a deal to Barcelona chiefs meeting with Xavi Hernandez after agreeing a transfer fee to sell the midfielder.
Today’s edition of Mundo Deportivo says a deal for De Jong is now imminent, as seen below:
I suspect Christian Eriksen’s medical is taking more time than usual because he’s a player who suffered a cardiac arrest in the past 12 months… Once that’s done and dusted, the Danish midfielder will join the squad in Australia. Lisandro Martinez is a fee away from being confirmed and could also join the squad down under. The Argentine is desperate to join United this summer - but has yet to tell Arsenal he won’t be going there… All of this and the rest of the transfer rumours here surrounding United can be found here.
We recorded the latest podcast last might and took a deeper dive into the first pre-season game against Scousers since 2018, when 100,000 fans attended the game in Michigan.
Strettycast is available on all your favourite podcast apps
Ten Hag confirmed that Harry Maguire will keep his role as club captain for the upcoming season. He praised the centre-back and made it clear that he will try to get every player a chance to get back to their best in a United shirt. That should be admired.
That’s all, folks. I’ll have updates on the blog throughout the day and plenty of coverage from the game in Bangkok.
All the best, Dale.