Manchester United kicks off its six-match preseason schedule Saturday afternoon in Finland, and the biggest storyline is probably the guy who just walked through the door.
Andrey Santos, the Brazilian midfielder who joined from Chelsea this week, is expected to make his first appearance in a United shirt when Michael Carrick’s side takes on Wrexham at Helsingin Olympiastadion. The club hasn’t confirmed how many minutes he’ll get, but all signs point to him being part of the matchday squad.
Carrick took over midway through last season after a rough start and completely flipped the script. He got United back into the Champions League, signed a permanent deal, and now he’s trying to build something that can hold up over a full campaign. This first friendly is basically a laboratory. New faces, new ideas, and a chance to see what the younger guys can do against live opposition.
Who’s in and who’s out
Santos is the headline arrival, but Youri Tielemans won’t be available yet. He’s still on break after Belgium’s World Cup run. So no debut for him here.
The squad Carrick brought to Helsinki is a mix of senior players and academy kids. Harry Maguire, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw, and Joshua Zirkzee are all there. So are teenagers like Chido Obi, Shea Lacey, and the Fletcher twins, Jack and Tyler. United is carrying 10 defenders and six forwards on this trip, which suggests Carrick wants to test a few different looks.
Wrexham has already played one preseason match, a 0-0 draw against Wisla Krakow in Poland last week. They’re a step ahead in terms of match fitness, but that doesn’t always mean much in July friendlies. The Welsh side just missed the Championship promotion playoffs by two points last season, so they’re likely to be scrappy again this year.
The history, for what it’s worth
These two teams haven’t played a competitive match since 1995. That was an FA Cup fourth-round tie United won 5-2, with goals from Denis Irwin, Ryan Giggs, and Brian McClair. United has won all five competitive meetings between the clubs and kept four clean sheets. But that’s ancient history and has basically nothing to do with what happens Saturday.
Wrexham will have New Zealand international Liberato Cacace available after his World Cup stint. That’s a solid addition for Phil Parkinson’s squad.
Kickoff is at 4 p.m. BST, which is 11 a.m. Eastern for U.S. viewers. The match is streaming live on MUTV, the club’s in-house channel. It costs about $10 a month for a subscription.
Don’t read too much into the result either way. Carrick is going to experiment. Some combinations will look disconnected. Others might click immediately. The real test comes when the Premier League starts. For now, it’s about getting minutes into legs and not picking up stupid injuries.
Prediction? 2-2 feels about right. United will be rusty. Wrexham will be organized. And somebody on both sides will probably do something that gets fans excited about August.
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