Lisandro Martínez has joined Manchester United's pre-season training camp in the Republic of Ireland as the last of the players given an extended post-World Cup break. The Argentina defender played in the final against Spain in East Rutherford, New Jersey on 19 July and was given an extra day off before joining the group — a delay that was not injury-related.
His arrival leaves Michael Carrick with a near-complete squad ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Leeds at Croke Park in Dublin. Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo were among nine players who had returned on Sunday. Mainoo had missed England's final World Cup match through a back injury before flying out to Ireland at the weekend.
Manuel Ugarte is the only member of the first-team group not present in Ireland. United confirmed in July that the Uruguay midfielder had surgery on a knee ligament injury sustained during the tournament.
Matthijs de Ligt is at the camp but remains unable to train or play as he continues recovering from back surgery three months ago. The Dutch defender has joined team-bonding elements of the trip and is not expected to be fit for the start of the Premier League season. Benjamin Sesko has also linked up with the squad this week during his own recovery from injury, having stayed behind at Carrington when his teammates travelled to Sweden to face Paris Saint-Germain, and he is yet to feature in pre-season. Karl Darlow is working through the effects of a minor procedure from the end of last season, though the club are confident he will be fit before the new campaign gets under way.
Mason Mount was substituted after 18 minutes of the PSG friendly. Carrick suggested the move was cautionary, saying: "He [Mount] got kicked. We just wanted to be careful and look after him. We've been lucky with injuries so far, so we wanted to be careful."
United have trained at the facility in Maynooth this week — the same venue used for a mid-season camp in April. That base-camp model has defined their entire pre-season: fixtures have been played in Finland, Norway and Sweden, yet the squad came back to Carrington after each game rather than staying abroad.
Assistant manager Steve Holland said that routine gave United a meaningful advantage during a summer disrupted by a World Cup, with players returning at different times. "We've been in control of the facilities, the pitch, the recovery," Holland told the club website. "Then being able to just travel in and out to play high-level games, returning to Carrington again for the following week, has given us the best possible chance, I would say, of being ready for the start, given that it's a tournament year. I'm really happy with the programme that we've had, and how it's gone to this point."
Holland also spoke of what he described as genuine optimism around the squad, pointing to last season's performances, the new signings, and the return of Champions League football as reasons for excitement. He said the club wanted to be competitive in every tournament and were eager to get the new season started.
After Wednesday's match in Dublin, United head to Wroclaw, Poland, for a final pre-season fixture against AC Milan and former manager Ruben Amorim. The Premier League campaign then opens at Hull on 22 August. Carrick, who took over in January following Amorim's departure and signed a contract through to 2028 in May, guided the club to a third-placed finish last season. He has been backed in the market with the arrivals of Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.
Reporting: GiveMeSport, RTÉ, ESPN.