It’s going to take a lot more than one good start to believe in Bubba Chandler. The undeniably talented young Pirates starter has been one of the biggest disappointments in Fantasy this season, missing shockingly few bats and racking up way too many walks en route to a 4.77 ERA entering Wednesday’s start against the Yankees. 

But it was a good start. Maybe even a great start. But it was definitely a promising start, if nothing else. 

Chandler silenced Yankees bats for 6.1 innings, allowing just two batted balls and walking just one batter, just his fourth start of the season with one or fewer walks. He hasn’t managed to turn any of his previous good starts into sustained success, so, again, it’s going to take a lot more than just one good start. But this one was especially promising. Chandler got a strike on 68% of his pitches, an unusually high mark for him, and he did it in part thanks to a 50% zone rate overall – including a 70% mark on his slider. 

And the slider wasn’t the same one he typically throws. Wednesday’s slider came in 1.7 mph harder than it usually does, while the rest of his arsenal was either stable (+0.4 mph on the four-seamer) or down (-1.1 mph on the changeup), while getting four inches less drop on the pitch. It’s veering on cutter territory here, and while it might not be as well equipped to miss bats in this form, if it helps him throw strikes more consistently, that might be a tradeoff worth making.

At least in the short term. Ultimately in the long run, we’ll want to see Chandler missing bats consistently. He did that with his four-seamer Wednesday, but he’ll need more than that – whether it’s splitting the slider off into this new cutter-ier variation while continuing to throw the older, slightly slower slider for whiffs, or continuing to develop the sweeper or curveball, neither of which he threw at all Wednesday. But the biggest issue for Chandler this season has been his inability to limit walks, so I’m all for him figuring out a way to solve that issue first.

And this very much feels like step one of a multi-step plan to fix Chandler. Let’s set the baseline where he can throw strikes a bit more consistently and avoid the kind of control issues that have spoiled his season, and then develop the rest of the arsenal to the point where he can start racking up the strikeouts his stuff seems to suggest should already be there. It hasn’t been, at least not consistently enough, as his 10.1% swinging strike rate is a shockingly poor mark for a guy whose stuff pops both by the eye test and by stuff models. 

We’ll need to see that before I can recommend Chandler as a usable Fantasy option, and I can’t even really strongly recommend him as a high-priority add on the waiver wire coming off this start. If you’re in a shallower league, I’d definitely be looking to make sure the likes of Cade Cavalli, Landen Roupp, Griffin Jax, or Logan Henderson aren’t available before even looking in Chandler’s direction. They’re all more presently useful than Chandler, for sure.

But I’m not sure any of them have more upside than Chandler. I’m not sure more than 10 or 15 pitchers in baseball do, frankly. He hasn’t come close to living up to it, but I remain convinced he can get there with the right tweaks. Hopefully Wednesday was the first sign of him figuring it out. 

Pre-game Lineup Card

Here’s what you might have missed from CBSSports.com’s MLB coverage in recent days: 

Prospects Report. Quinn Mathews is pitching his way back into the Fantasy-relevant conversation in Triple-A, and he looks like he could make an impact when the Cardinals finally decide to call him up. 

IL Stash rankings. Scott White ranks the 50 players most likely to be stashed in Fantasy, starting with the must-stash players like Aaron Judge and Nick Kurtz. 

Deadline bold predictions. Mike Axisa plants his flag with Tarik Skubal landing in the NL and more. 

MLB trend report. The Yankees miss Aaron Judge. Here’s where his absence hurts them the most. 

Hitting the Wire

The top waiver-wire targets from Wednesday’s action: 

Nasim Nunez, SS, Nationals (45%) – If you lost Bobby Witt to the IL Wednesday … well, you’d better pack it in; there’s no replacing a player like that. I’m kidding. Well, no, not entirely: Of course, there is no replacing a player like Bobby Witt. You just have to muddle through and do the best you can until he’s back, and unfortunately, shortstop is not a position with a ton of plug-and-play options available on the wire these days. Nunez is probably the best option you can hope for. He won’t hit for any power, but he’s managed to hit well for a pretty long time now, running a .345 batting average since the start of June, a stretch of 39 games. He has just one homer in that stretch, but he has at least continued to steal a lot of bases, swiping 15 in that stretch, and if you can even get a .280 average from him with his steal upside, Nunez can at least help you weather the storm without Witt. 

Tommy Edman, 3B, Dodgers (50%) – If you have a viable shortstop but you’re looking more for a middle infielder to replace Witt, Edman is looking like a fine option. He still seems to sit out about one in every five games as the team tries to limit his workload coming off ankle surgery, but the way he’s hitting, they might need to take the training wheels off soon. Edman went 3 for 4 with three RBI Wednesday and is now hitting .360 with two homers, 16 runs, 17 RBI, and two steals in 28 games since his debut. He won’t keep hitting .360, but his .320 expected batting average on the season suggests it isn’t a total fluke either. Edman isn’t a superstar player, but he looks more than solid right now if you need help in either a middle or corner infield spot. 

Trevor Larnach, OF, Twins (24%) – Players like Larnach are always tough to value, because we know their upside is limited by their status as true platoon players. Larnach has started just four games against lefties this season, but he leads off against every right-handed pitcher, so the playing time is pretty straightforward here. However, he has been red hot lately, hitting .376 with five homers and 38 combined runs and RBI in his past 26 games (with the underlying data to back it up), and the Twins look set to play five of six games against righties next week. It seems like a good chance to get Larnach in your lineup. 

Hunter Dobbins, SP, Cardinals (2%) – This might have just been a spot start, but Dobbins put himself back on our radars Wednesday. He took advantage of a good matchup against the Angels and limited them to just six hits over six shutout innings while striking out five, and his sweeper was absolutely brilliant in this one, generating eight of his 12 whiffs. The Angels lineup will help in that regard, but Dobbins now has a 3.18 ERA and 3.67 FIP with nearly a strikeout per inning in six appearances (four starts) this season. I don’t think Dobbins is a difference maker, or anything, but I do think he could be useful if given some run in front of that elite Cardinals defense. Let’s see if they give him the chance. 

Three Up, Three Down

Three big performances that have players trending up, and three that have the arrow pointing in the opposite direction. 

Three Up

Max Fried looked brilliant in his return

Fried made his return from an elbow injury on the other side of Chandler in that game, and it genuinely looked like he had never been gone. Despite being limited to just 57 pitches (as expected), Fried still managed to get through five shutout innings with just one hit and one walk allowed while striking out seven, and his stuff arguably looked the best it has all season. His four-seamer velocity was up to 96.2 mph, 1.5 mph up over his season average and the highest he has managed in a start since last season. And, of course, he did that after missing more than two months due to a bone bruise in his elbow; that he only made one rehab start before returning to the rotation makes it even more impressive. That doesn’t mean Fried will remain healthy moving forward, of course, but it does make me feel quite confident that he’s going to be good for as long as he does remain healthy. 

Chandler Simpson is red hot and running again

Batting average is a fickle, fickle skill, and players who rely almost entirely on batting average for their production at the plate are probably always going to be prone to big fluctuations in their value as a result. Simpson hit a wall in May and June, and combined with unusually poor baserunning efficiency from a player with his speed, it had many Fantasy players wondering if he was even worth the trouble. Well, the past 25 games have shown he still is, as he has hit .380 with 12 steals in that span after he went 1 for 2 with a couple of steals Wednesday. Simpson might always be a headache, because he really doesn’t have many ways to impact the game if his slap hits aren’t finding grass consistently. But when he’s on, there are few players who can provide as much of a boost in average or stolen bases, and that upside will always make it tough to drop him — at least in Roto leagues. He’s pretty fringey even when things are good in a points league, hence why he isn’t a waiver-wire target here despite a 69% roster rate. Most of the leagues where he is available are likely points leagues, where he really doesn’t make much of an impact overall. 

Jeremy Pena has permanently leveled up 

Injuries have hidden it, but Pena has basically managed to prove last season was no fluke. He homered for the third straight game Wednesday as part of a 3-for-4 game, and he’s now hitting .302 with nine homers and eight steals in 56 games – basically a 25-25 pace, after he went 17-20 in 125 games last season while hitting .304. Pena leveled up in 2025 and he’s managed to back it up in 2026, with the underlying numbers to match it. He’s an excellent Fantasy shortstop in Roto and points, and probably just needs to be treated as a top-12 guy until further notice. 

Three Down

Munetaka Murakami has hit the wall

Murakami was never going to keep his outrageous early pace up, but the hamstring that ended up costing him all of June and part of July was especially frustratingly timed because he’s the kind of high-variance player we want as big a sample size from as possible. And when we’re evaluating Murakami moving forward, his slow July raises an unanswerable question: How would Murakami have fared without the injury disrupting his season? Murakami came back on July 10 and in nine games he is hitting just .167/.359/.267 with one homer and a 38% strikeout rate after he went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts Wednesday. Murakami is always going to have a lot of swing-and-miss in his game, but that’s a wholly untenable mark, and it’s going to be basically impossible for him or anyone to thrive with a 38% strikeout rate. We have seen Murakami succeed with a strikeout rate in the 35% range, though, and he was even potentially showing some signs of improvement in May, when he had a 31% strikeout rate before the injury. I’m certainly not going to give up on Murakami because of less than 10 games, but if you’re not worried about how he’s looked since his return, you have a higher tolerance for risk than I do, I guess. 

It’s time to drop Gage Jump 

I was willing to give Jump some latitude with his recent struggles, concentrated as they were on his starts in Sacramento’s very tough environment for pitchers. But he struggled yet again Wednesday in Arizona, giving up six runs over 4.2 innings with three more homers allowed – his third start with multiple homers allowed in his past five. He didn’t even allow a single homer in his first six starts, so this has been an especially tough stretch. I still think Jump has plenty of upside in the long run, but he has to miss more bats to overcome his struggles with hard contact and walks, and just seven whiffs on 83 pitches Wednesday (including just two on non-fastballs) just didn’t get the job done, obviously. I won’t write Jump off forever, but I also can’t tell you with a straight face that he needs to be rostered in all leagues. Right now, he definitely doesn’t. 

Bailey Ober isn’t worth the time

I know there are some Fantasy analysts and players who want to believe Ober can get back to being a viable Fantasy option, but I just don’t see it. Even when he was getting pretty good results of late, it never seemed sustainable, what with Ober’s velocity still sitting multiple mph down from where he was in previous years. He’s a veteran pitcher who knows how to pitch and still generates huge extension thanks to his 6-foot-9 frame, so I’m not saying Ober isn’t an MLB-caliber pitcher or something. But it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Ober be an impact pitcher for Fantasy, and I don’t see any reason to think he’ll get back there. His four runs-in-four-innings performance Wednesday undid a lot of the good he had done over his previous couple of starts, and it’s a reminder that in most leagues, he probably just isn’t worth the trouble. He does not need to be rostered in 64% of CBS Fantasy leagues. 

Extra Innings

Gerrit Cole is almost all the way back

A couple of late homers left Cole with a crooked number in the box score, as he gave up three runs in seven innings against the Pirates Thursday, but this was still another very promising start – arguably his most promising of the season. Cole had his fastball working like it was a vintage start, as he generated 13 swinging strikes on 29 swings, a massive 45% mark, and it wasn’t alone – he had multiple swinging strikes on his changeup, slider, and curveball and ended up with 21 overall. That led to 11 strikeouts, a season high and his most in a start since Aug. 25, 2023. Cole has been generating pretty good results since his return from Tommy John surgery, but he wasn’t really missing enough bats to fully buy in until recently; he has 32 strikeouts in 23.1 innings since the start of July and has seen his overall swinging strike rate tick up at the same time. It’s too early to say he’ll just be an ace moving forward, but he’s finally starting to look like one again, and when you have the track record Cole does, it doesn’t take much to make me buy back in. I just want to see him keep the ball in the yard a little better and then it’ll be easy to buy in. But he isn’t far. 

Hiring Kwesi Adofo-Mensah meant welcoming change. Go ahead and re-read the title for some examples.

Consider, as a single example, opting to move on from Dalvin Cook. The elegant, gliding runner had a productive season in 2022 within the Kevin O’Connell offense, turning 264 carries into 1,173 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns. Many runners would see these statistics as being excellent but the year wasn’t among Cook’s most dominant.

Seeing a cliff coming, the Vikings cut the runner to get out of his five-year $63 million contract early for precious cap savings. Doing so was a symptom of the franchise’s shifting priorities under new leadership.

Lessons Learned from Dalvin Cook (and Friends)

The point, as you may have guessed, is that welcoming a new GM means welcoming change. Being content with the status quo would have led to keeping the old boss, Mr. Adofo-Mensah.

So, keep that central, basic reality in mind: embracing change means embracing change.

Nolan Teasley is coming over from the Seattle Seahawks. He’s therefore coming out of a fantastic franchise that is miles ahead of the Vikings. Minnesota is hoping for some of the Seattle magic to get sprinkled onto the Vikings. Inevitably, there’s got to be some form of change to move toward that sunnier horizon.

It wasn’t that long ago, folks, that Dalvin Cook was a key part of the mix. Moreover, homegrown talents such as Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, and several others were cornerstone talents for a strong era of Minnesota football.

The team then grafted free agents such as Patrick Peterson, Dalvin Tomlinson, and others onto the roster to try to keep the competitive window open. Oh, and that Kirk Cousins guy should be mentioned, as well.

None of these players are still in town; they were Vikings at the beginning of the Adofo-Mensah days but didn’t finish off the Adofo-Mensah days. They were all allowed/forced to leave at some point across the old GM’s four years.

— READ MORE: Irksome Injury Hits Vikings Defender Ahead of Training Camp —
— READ MORE: Vikings Fans Got Bad News Today —
— READ MORE: 8 Other Questions to Ask Before Vikings Training Camp —

What’s of interest now is who will get similar treatment now that Mr. Teasley is calling the shots.

Part of his job description involves being able to build out an approach to being the Vikings’ GM that’s coherent with the strong leadership that’s already in place in Kevin O’Connell, Brian Flores, Matt Daniels, Rob Brzezinski, and others. These leaders value Justin Jefferson; Teasley is to do likewise.

But then there are the areas that demand change. Or, put differently, the areas that Teasley deems in need of change. Maybe that means not extending talents such as Brian O’Neill and Blake Cashman, great ball players who are moving into the final year of their deals. What about Ivan Pace Jr., T.J. Hockenson, Tai Felton, and/or Walter Rouse? Cuts or trades are possible.

Goodness, maybe even J.J. McCarthy could be tossed into the mix. Multiple NFL teams out there would be willing to trade for him if he doesn’t secure the top quarterback spot. Nolan Teasley doesn’t appear likely to accept a low-ball offer, but the new GM is somewhat of a mystery.

Nolan Teasley isn’t going to take his machete to the roster, cutting talent aplenty before the Week 1 game against the Packers. Rather, he’ll be using the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel, making precise cuts as he slowly begins shaping the roster into his own image.

At some point, though, the new GM is going to make decisions that end up being tough for fans to accept. A lot people didn’t like saying goodbye to Dalvin Cook and yet the old GM made the decision anyhow. When does Nolan Teasley arrive at similar decisions? Will it be before the 2026 season?

The Vikings need to shrink the roster down to 53 men by the end of August. Expect at least some surprise and maybe even a bit of pain before getting to that first iteration of the 2026 Minnesota Vikings.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Training camp is a time of optimism for the vast majority of NFL teams. The Vikings are clearly among the teams dreaming of a big season ahead, especially if they stay healthy and get better overall production from the quarterback position.

After a month of vacation time, the Vikings coaches are back to work and preparing for 2026 training camp that opens with the rookies reporting on Sunday and the vets two days later. There will be the usual ramp-up period before things crank up in earnest with the first padded practice on Monday, August 3, before the usual full house of fans at Vikings HQ in Eagan.

The Vikings defense should be solid coming off a top-five season, but there will be several new starters, and young players are being counted on to produce, especially along the defensive line. We expect Brian Flores’ defense to perform up to recent standards.

Quarterback Clarity Will Drive the Entire Summer

The key to a playoff season in 2026, contending for the NFC North title and possibly making a playoff run, seems to point to the offense that is loaded with supporting talent for whoever is running the show at quarterback. The QB — whether it’s Kyler Murray (most likely) or J.J. McCarthy — has to lead the offense to better production than last season when the Vikings ranked 28th in yards per game, 29th in passing offense, 23rd in rushing yards, and 26th in scoring after being a top 10 team in most offensive categories in the 14-win season of 2024.

The Vikings also led the NFL in giveaways with 30 and threw the most interceptions (21). Murray has generally been good at protecting the ball. He has a 2% career interception rate, whereas McCarthy was at 4.9% in his first season as a starter in 2025, but his numbers should improve with experience.

Let’s further break down the offense by position and identify what the team needs to do this season:

Quarterbacks

All eyes are on Murray and McCarthy entering training camp. We’ll be watching to see how Kevin O’Connell handles the first-team reps early on, with the expectation Murray and McCarthy will basically split them for the first week or so. O’Connell will want to get Murray the lion’s share as soon as possible if it’s obvious he’s going to be the September 13 starter against the Packers.

We know it’s not an easy offense to learn, and Murray was up and down in OTAs and minicamp as he dealt with the learning curve. He’d better get it together quickly in camp, or the door could open for McCarthy, especially if Murray struggles in the two days of joint practices with the Ravens in Week 3 of training camp.

As I’ve said during the offseason, Murray is at a career crossroads, and a big season will likely lead to another $50 million-plus-per-year contract with the Vikings or elsewhere. So the pressure is on big-time, and he needs to know this offense inside and out as quickly as he can and perform at the level expected for a first overall pick. And neither player should say a word about how many reps they’re getting. Just go to work and don’t complain.

Keeping Murray and McCarthy healthy through training camp is obviously critical since they’ve both had injury issues in recent seasons. Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer should get the bulk of the playing time in the three preseason games, but the hope is neither of them plays in the regular season.

The reality is we won’t know how the QB position is shaking out in terms of overall productivity this season and prospects until after the 2026 season, as we remember well McCarthy was Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the 2025 season opening win in Chicago and then his season was a roller coaster from there. And Sam Darnold was terrific in 2024 until he laid an egg in the last two games.

Running Backs

I think the position is well-stocked with a mix of styles among Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, Zavier Scott and the intriguing rookie speedster Demond Claiborne.

Does Jones still have the juice to be a productive starter at 31 years old? I think he does, but we’ll be watching him in camp and early regular season to see if he can play at his excellent 2024 level when he had a combined 1,548 yards rushing and receiving with seven TDs. He needs to stay on the field after missing five games last season. Mason averaged 4.8 yards per carry and should be even better if the O-line stays healthy (especially tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill). Scott did some nice things in limited duty, especially as a receiving back.

Claiborne is the wild card in this group. He brings elite speed (4.37 in the 40) and is a dual-threat player. He’ll play a lot in preseason games when Jones is held out, so he’ll have an opportunity to carve out a role for the regular season if he performs well (and possibly a bigger role in the future).

Fifth-round bulldog Max Bredeson takes on the C.J. Ham fullback role as lead blocker and special teams contributor. We’ll see how much he becomes part of this offense, but he appears to be a good fit.

Wide Receivers

This is the strongest position on the team. Justin Jefferson is one of the two or three best in the league, and I expect a huge season from him with better QB play leading to 1,500-plus receiving yards and a lot more TDs than the two he had in 2025. Jordan Addison is one of the best No. 2 WRs but needs to avoid the drops that hurt him and the team last season. Jauan Jennings is a solid third who should make as many catches as the departed Jalen Nailor.

Tai Felton looked improved this offseason so we’ll see if he can make a move towards more play time and being the No. 3 at a cheaper price than Jennings in 2027. There’s some talent among the other wide receivers in camp, including Dillon Bell, Myles Price, Jeshaun Jones, and Dontae Fleming. It will be fun to watch these players in camp practices and preseason games, with the top three unlikely to play much in the three games (and Jefferson not at all).

Tight Ends

At 29 years old, T.J. Hockenson should still be a Pro Bowl-caliber player and a big intermediate target for the Vikings QBs. The Vikings need him to be back in his 2023 form before his ACL injury, when he had a career-best 95 catches for 960 yards and five TDs. It will be interesting to see how he connects with the Vikings QBs in camp and what his role looks like. I expect a big season for Hockenson, who took a pay cut and wants to re-establish himself as an elite tight end ahead of his potential free agency in 2027.

Josh Oliver remains a critical part of the blocking scheme in the run game and pass protection as one of the league’s best in these areas. He also had four TD catches last season and has proven to be a dependable receiver.

Ben Yurosek and Gavin Bartholomew will compete for the third tight end spot, but it would not be a surprise if Bredeson takes on that role in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

Offensive Line

I have a strong feeling the offensive line will be a team strength this season and that the potentially elite tackles — Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill — will be much healthier than in recent years (they missed a combined 11 games last season). Darrisaw looks much more confident in his knee that limited him last season (after the 2024 ACL tear). He should make his first Pro Bowl this year. O’Neill is looking for an extension as he enters the last year of his contract, and like Darrisaw, he’s an excellent player when healthy.

Will Fries and Donovan Jackson are solid as starting guards, with Jackson sure to make a leap as a second-year player following a good rookie season.

The big question is at center, where the Vikings passed on signing the top free agent centers and then didn’t draft a center until taking Gavin Gerhardt in the seventh round. O’Connell apparently believes Blake Brandel can do the job as a run blocker, pass protector, and in making the line calls. He has 31 starts in his career but only a few at center last season in relief of Ryan Kelly. He seemed to do OK, and if he ups his game while the rest of the starting O-line stays healthy, the team should have one of the league’s best units.

In the critical backup tackle roles, the Vikings signed restricted free agent Ryan Van Demark and drafted Caleb Tiernan, a giant at 6-8, 323 pounds, in the third round. They should be a significant upgrade over last year’s backup tackles. Tiernan also is projected to be able to play guard in the NFL.

Joe Huber showed some promise last season as a backup guard. Gerhardt and Michael Jurgens will battle for the backup center job unless the Vikings add another center to the mix, which is a possibility if they’re not confident in Brandel or the backups (despite limited cap space, currently about $14 million under top 51 rules, and it’s possible much of that is being held for Harrison Smith if he returns).

Next Week: Looking at the defense and special teams in my training camp preview.

Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year … More about Jeff Diamond

Former IBF welterweight world champion, Kell Brook, has previously called for a domestic dust-up with Conor Benn. Now, ‘Special K’ has predicted how Benn will fare in his first world title challenge, against WBC titleholder, Ryan Garcia.

Benn and Brook were linked to a bout in May 2023, when the pair were pulled apart in a ringside confrontation in Dublin, but the fight never materialised, partly due to the fact that Benn had relinquished his BBBofC license following his infamous failed drugs test.

Instead, Benn twice fought stateside as a super-welterweight and then twice boxed fierce rival Chris Eubank J as a middleweight, before announcing plans to return to the welterweight division and challenge for world honours.

On his way back down to 147lbs, Benn entered the ring against Regis Prograis earlier this year in a 150lb catchweight contest and underwhelmed, but still he has landed his title shot, with a fight against Garcia now formally confirmed.

Speaking on the Fight Your Corner Podcast, Kell Brook looked ahead to the fight and admitted that whilst he gives Benn ‘a good chance’, he feels as though the power of Garcia means that a win for the Californian is more likely.

“I give him [Benn] a good chance, but I do lean towards Garcia winning the fight, I do. In his last fight he boxed well but in the fight before, he didn’t box so good. I just think that he will rise to the occasion, they are champions and I think that we are going to see the best of both of ‘em. 

“I just think that Garcia has got that get-out-of-jail card. When I boxed Shawn Porter, I went to Vegas to finish some sparring off and I was some sparring with some good kids. I put it onto this kid and had a really good spar, I was punching hard.

“We had something to eat after and I said, who is the biggest puncher you’ve been to, don’t forget I’m a lot older than Garcia, and he said, ‘I have never been hit as hard as by Ryan Garcia,’. That punch power that he has got, that snap [is impressive].”

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Garcia-Benn takes place on Saturday, September 12, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with undefeated cruiserweight Jai Opetaia expected to appear on the undercard. 

Marcus Rashford is set to return to Manchester United training but a key decision was made during his time away from the club

Marcus Rashford will face an awkward reality when he returns to Manchester United as he is currently without a squad number. He last played for United in December 2024, subsequently spending time away on loan at Aston Villa and Barcelona.

The 28-year-old showed signs of returning to his best form at Villa before being loaned to Barcelona last summer. Rashford scored and assisted 14 goals apiece in all competitions as the Catalan club won La Liga but Barcelona opted not to trigger their £26million buy option. A further £40m release clause has also since expired for other sides.

Rashford is set to report back to United training after his summer break. The England international was part of the squad that earned a World Cup bronze medal, making six tournament appearances, including three starts.

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Despite falling out of favour under former manager Ruben Amorim, Rashford’s camp have held positive talks with United over returning for pre-season. However, the forward faces a potentially awkward conversation with the United hierarchy over finding a new squad number after losing the number 10 shirt during his time away from Old Trafford.

The iconic number 10 was given to Matheus Cunha after his move from Wolves last year. It had been Rashford’s number since 2018, following in the footsteps of many United heroes such as Wayne Rooney.

Rashford initially wore number 39 when he made his first team breakthrough in the 2015/16 campaign. He was subsequently handed the number 19 shirt for the next two seasons before being given the prestigious number 10.

In 2018, Rashford tweeted about his new number: “Wearing the shirt worn by United legends, honoured.” United boss Jose Mourinho explained the reason for giving the then-20-year-old the iconic shirt number.

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“He wanted it,” Mourinho told MUTV in 2018. “He always wanted it. Of course, he respected the big Rooney and then Zlatan wanted to have it.

“Of course, he was in the shadow, waiting for the opportunity and now the shirt is empty. It’s something fantastic for the kid, let’s give the shirt to him”

In his time away from Old Trafford, Rashford wore nine for Villa, a number he previously wore for United’s academy sides. He also sported the number 14 shirt during his season with Barcelona.

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Both numbers from his respective loan spells are currently up for grabs at United. Aside from nine and 14, numbers 20, 21 and 24 are also available to Rashford within the top 25 slots.

However, in terms of his other old United numbers, Bryan Mbeumo occupies 19 and youngster Tyler Fletcher wears 39 in Michael Carrick’s squad. Summer signings Andrey Santos and Youri Tieleman have taken 17 and 18, respectively, while new backup goalkeeper Karl Darlow will wear number 12.

Thousands of Man United fans upgraded their matchday last season. This is how they did it.

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