For the first time in pre-season, this started to feel like a typical Manchester United summer. Trips to Helsinki, Trondheim and Stockholm had been low-key. A squad lacking stars, barely any welcome party and attendances that suggested United’s hold on Scandinavia perhaps wasn’t as strong as thought.
But when the squad arrived at their hotel a couple of miles outside Gothenburg city centre at around 6.30pm on Friday, there was finally a crowd waiting for them. It might only have been 100 or so supporters, but this was a hotel around the industrial pier of Sweden’s second city.
There was a buzz at United’s arrival. The novelty factor of a visit to Gothenburg for the first time in a decade helped, as did the return of some of the club’s World Cup stars and the presence of Youri Tielemans for the first time this summer.
Andrey Santos might have cost more money, but Tielemans feels the biggest signing of the window so far at Old Trafford, as a bona fide Premier League star and someone who has just captained Belgium at the World Cup.
But wherever United go, there is only one true star in the squad. This is a group lacking the big names of previous United squads. It’s a team without an obvious ego and lacking the kind of player to make headlines when he sneezes.
Bruno Fernandes is the closest they have to that kind of figure, and his return to the squad was greeted with glee in Gothenburg. It was ‘Bruno’ the supporters outside the hotel were shouting for and it was the club captain who spent the longest outside, signing autographs and posing for selfies long after his teammates had checked in and stretched themselves out on their beds.
Eventually, Fernandes was ushered inside by security for another fleeting United stay in Scandinavia. About 30 hours after their arrival they headed to Dublin. They did at least spend longer in Gothenburg than PSG, who only arrived in the morning, spent a couple of hours at a city centre hotel, then dashed away after the game.
The old-school charm of the Ullevi Stadium played host to the biggest crowd to watch United in pre-season so far, and the majority of those in attendance were supporting Michael Carrick’s side, although Kvicha Kvaratskhelia might well have been the biggest star on show.
There was familiar support for United as well, with Juan Mata’s family in attendance and making their way inside the bowels of the stadium to say hello to some old faces. Mata is now plying his trade in Australia but his wife, Evelina Kamph, is Swedish and was at the game.
That added to the slightly chaotic feel after the game. It took United’s players a while to depart, and Carrick had media obligations with MUTV and host broadcaster VG to fulfil. For once this summer, there was a story as well, with Mason Mount going off injured in the first half.
Carrick played down those fears after the game and Mount walked through the mixed zone with a smile on his face, no obvious sign of a limp and a cheery “all good” when asked how he was. While PSG’s players slipped away from the side door, United staffers made sure their players walked through the area where the media were waiting.
As soon as Mount appeared, the camera phones buzzed into action, and his positive update was welcome news. He had been the star of pre-season so far, but fitness concerns are never far away with the 27-year-old after a rotten couple of years.
Mount took his place on the Saturday evening flight to Dublin and United’s squad were installed at Carton House later that night. It is a familiar environment, having spent several days there in April during a training camp.
They will spend the next five nights there and will use the outstanding facilities for training and a change of scenery after four weeks at Carrington. Dublin’s iconic Croke Park stadium will play host to a sold-out ‘friendly’ against Leeds on Wednesday.
A bigger media contingent will descend on County Kildare as well, with the short hop across the Irish Sea worth the effort for what will be the story of the summer so far. When Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford return to pre-season training, the camera lenses will focus on only one player.
Carrick will speak to external media for the first time this week as well, and Rashford will be a topic of discussion. Carrick has shown a deftness to avoid headlines so far and you can be sure he will handle this situation delicately. His long-standing relationship with Rashford will help.
This is the start of what is essentially United’s final week of pre-season. On Friday, they will head from Dublin to Wroclaw for a game against AC Milan. By the time they’re next back in Manchester, the start of the Premier League campaign will be less than a week away.
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