It has been a busy week for Manchester United with new signings, pre-season starting and the FIFA World Cup coming to a close with three United players still participating in the tournament until the final weekend; Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo for England, who faced France in the Bronze Final and Lisandro Martinez for Argentina, who faced Spain in the FIFA World Cup final. United’s pre-season continues this week too with United travelling to Trondheim in Norway to face Rosenborg SK.
Pre‑Season: United suffered another defeat to Wrexham in pre-season!
United started their pre-season tour on Saturday afternoon where they faced Wrexham at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. It is not going to be a tour like any other because of the FIFA World Cup this summer with United’s squad heading from Manchester a day before each match, or at least that is what it looks like with each destination only a few hours flight time from Manchester. Wrexham have pre-season form against United, winning 3-1 three years ago at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
New summer signing Andrey Santos started his first match for United and he did quite well considering his quick debut and his adaptation to a new club, head coach and teammates. Sadly it was not meant to be for United, who went 1-0 down courtesy of United fan Sam Smith’s strike in the 39th minute of the match. It was just a training match for United so results do not tend to matter all that much – at least not at this stage or pre-season. United will get better and much stronger when first team players start to return in a few weeks.
Transfers: Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Karl Darlow and Tynan Thompson sign for United!
It has been a busy week for United who signed Andrey Santos from Chelsea last week but two more transfers were confirmed that week with Youri Tielemans signing from Aston Villa and free agent Karl Darlow coming in as a second-choice goalkeeper to balance the squad. Tielemans was such a great signing for United and despite his age, he will bring some quality to the midfield. United are still seeking a third midfielder this summer but that will take some time with AS Roma and France midfielder Manu Koné linked to United.
Today, United announced another signing with 18-year-old Tynan Thompson signing for the Old Trafford club from Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur. It is reported that Thompson has cost United £4 million with £4 million in add ons, which could make him an £8 million signing if he reaches his potential. The winger made 26 appearances for Spurs last season at youth level, scoring 13 goals and six assists. He shone in the UEFA Youth League with seven goals and two assists in seven appearances. He should fit in at United this season.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Spain beat Argentina 1-0; England beat France 6-4!
The FIFA World Cup came to a close this weekend with the Final played in New York/New Jersey on Sunday evening and the Bronze Final played in Miami on Sunday evening. Last week saw Spain beat France in the first semi-final and Argentina beat England in the second semi-final – setting up a final between Spain and Argentina. Argentina did nothing but disgrace themselves with arrogance and petulance resulting in Enzo Fernandez sent off before Spain scored the only (allowed) goal of the game in extra time.
England played in Miami on Saturday evening, facing the former favourites of the tournament – France. It was expected to be a spectacular match but England were 4-0 up at the end of the first half. France scored three times in the first 21 minutes of the second half with Kylian Mbappe securing his position as the Golden Boot winner this time around. England went 5-3 up before France scored again and Jude Bellingham scored a sixth goal for England – his seventh of the tournament. The best England finish in the World Cup since 1966.
Editor’s Closing Note
One thing that I can see at the moment is the future of Lisandro Martinez at United being problematic. Since signing for the club four years ago he has missed 88 matches due to injury and now he seems to be injured again after coming off in the FIFA World Cup final against Spain, where Argentina lost and failed to become the third team to successfully defend their World Cup title. Martinez was involved in a political statement after the victory over England and it did not look great from my perspective. Politics and football should be separate.
As for Martinez’s future at United, there have been reports that the Argentinian defender has been offered to Atletico Madrid, who United face in pre-season later this summer. It could see Martinez managed by compatriot Diego Simeone. United will obviously have to see how bad his injury is and with the player now being on holiday for the next three weeks, it could be a bit of a wait for United to assess their options. Martinez will be out of contract next summer, although there is an option for a further year to be added to his contract.
Written by Paul
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2026-07-20 19:00:00
