Manchester United put in a good performance on Sunday afternoon to come back from 1-0 down to beat Ipswich 5-2.

In a game where Bruno Fernandes scored a hattrick and assisted another goal, Kobbie Mainoo gave him a run for his money where the Man of the Match award was concerned, with the young midfielder putting in an outstanding display.

Michael Carrick had previously revealed he had been in touch with Kobbie Mainoo over the summer to discuss the disappointment of being selected in England’s World Cup squad but not being given a single minute of playing time by Thomas Tuchel. Carrick had empathised, having been in a similar situation during his playing career, but reassured him that he would get plenty of minutes in the season ahead.

Speaking to MUTV after the Ipswich game, Carrick sung the praises of Mainoo.

I thought he was fantastic today, Kobbie. It was nice for him to be home again and playing here with that confidence. It was his first start. Some of the boys have been away and had different levels of football at the World Cup; they’ve played different minutes, so we’ve had to manage that over the last couple of weeks.

To put in that performance today shows what Kobbie can do. We’re fortunate enough to have a really good midfield unit, and we can call upon different players at different times. I was really happy with the way he played today.

You know, we kind of managed him a little bit, and we’ve got good midfielders, so it’s that trying to make the best of the combinations. But I thought Kobbie, I understand Bruno will get a lot of credit today, and he deserves that as well, but I thought Kobbie was immense in the middle of the pitch for us and underpinned the performance of the team.

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Ahead of Manchester United’s first home game of the season against Ipswich on the weekend, captain and PFA Player of the Year, Bruno Fernandes, has singled out a young red for praise.

Speaking to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Fernandes spoke about how he has seen Shea Lacey develop over the years and has been impressed with how he’s returned after the summer break.

His technical ability was never in doubt. I often joke with him because I coached him when I was taking my coaching badges, and I remember he was in the U14 team then. So, Juan Mata and I basically coached him for a day. I told him he’s much better now than he was at 14. He is much more mature, doing very well. I think what they all need they want to be part of the team and play for the team is to treat every training session like a game.

I think Shea Lacey came with a completely different mentality this season in terms of movement off the ball. I think that’s great, and it’s what I talked to him about after returning from vacation, because I watched their three games. He plays in the same position as me, which requires a high level of running and emotional intelligence in covering space and assisting teammates in attack, and he has done very well.

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Bruno Fernandes was named the PFA Player of the Year last night at an awards ceremony in Manchester. Having secured the all-time Premier League assist record last season, it was no surprise that the United captain was voted as the best player by his peers.

Having been presented with the award by Juan Mata, Fernandes took to the stage to deliver a speech reflecting on the season he’d just had.

It was a special season, individually for me. And obviously, I’m very proud that all the ones that have decided to help me. I haven’t thought about the (assists) record much until you guys started commenting so much. Obviously, then when you start getting closer, you start thinking about it and everything. But I think it got into more into my strikers and into myself. The more so, you get to score the goal and to give me that feeling that sometimes they even forgot about their own game. But I’m very happy because assisting means that someone is getting goals, and mostly if I’m assisting, Manchester United is getting goals.

But obviously, we don’t play tennis. We play for just ourselves. We play football. We play in a team. We play for a club. We play for our fans. And there’s nothing more special than that. It’s very good to have that responsibility because it’s something nice. It’s something you can enjoy. Obviously, you have to deal with it. It’s not always easy, but I think it’s better to have that pressure than none.

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Manchester United have today confirmed the signing of Carlos Baleba from Brighton, reportedly for £65m + £5m addons.

United have tried to sign the midfielder last summer but, having agreed personal terms with the players, couldn’t reach an agreement on fee with Brighton.

Today the 22-year-old finally got his move and spoke of his pride at getting to play for United on the club’s official site.

It is an incredible feeling to join the club of my dreams. Playing at Old Trafford is always special but the opportunity to do so as a Manchester United player will be a real honour.

I cannot wait to work with Michael Carrick; his experience and knowledge of the game make him the perfect coach to help me to reach the highest level.

The ambition of everyone at the club is extremely clear, the future is hugely exciting, and I am determined to play my part in delivering the success that we are capable of together.

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Manchester United had a desperately disappointing beginning to the 2026-27 season following a drab 2-0 defeat against Hull. Despite dominating possession and having three times as many shots, United couldn’t penetrate Hull’s defence and were woeful for the two set pieces that gave Hull the win.

After the game, captain Bruno Fernandes spoke about the disappointment and focus on our next game.

Obviously, the first home game will be massive for us, and even more now that we didn’t win the game away at Hull City. So we’re three points behind what we wanted, so we really need a result in the next one. We need to work on whatever didn’t work out for us today, we need to get better, we need to prepare ourselves for the next game. There’s not much I can say that will change the result today, but there’s a lot we can do in the next one to change that.

Our next game is against another newly promoted team, Ipswich, but this time at Old Trafford. Fernandes is aware of the threat that the teams who have just joined the league from the Championship may pose.

We know every game will be tough in the Premier League, it doesn’t matter if they are a newly promoted team or another team. They will be aggressive, the grounds will be against us, we need to prepare for that, we know many teams will use set-pieces as one of their strengths, so I think we were pretty aware of that, but at the end of the day we end up conceding a goal again.

We had a lot of the ball but we were not very decisive and this is even in the last third to score the goal to get a little bit of a chance and get a goal to ourselves. But we have to give credit to them, they defended their box very well.

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Kobbie Mainoo has had an incredibly mixed year, with great highs but also disappointing lows. Ruben Amorim, for whatever strange reason, didn’t have the young midfielder as part of his plans. Mainoo didn’t start a single league game for United in the first half the season when Amorim was in charge. When Michael Carrick came in at the turn of the year he put Mainoo straight in to the team and played him every week, which saw him earn a place in the PFA Young Player of the Year shortlist. This is a remarkable achievement for someone who only had half a season of playing regularly.

Having not been in the England squad before Amorim’s sacking, Mainoo not only returned to the squad but earned himself a seat on the plane to the USA for the World Cup. Frustratingly, Thomas Tuchel didn’t given Mainoo a single minute of playing time.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Carrick has spoken about how good Mainoo has looked since returning to Carrington.

I’ve only seen positives since he came back. Since he returned, you could see that he was delighted to be here. He had a break and it was important that he went away and switched off.

Kobbie is strong. He’s had some huge highs and some challenging times already in his career, and he’s only 21, which is incredible. But he’s got that stubbornness about him that I love in a footballer, where he deals with things so well. He’s been great in training, he’s ready for a big season and that experience [with England] will help him.

It’s frustrating because he wanted to go and play and do more obviously but, sometimes, you’ve got to learn from other things. We’re there to support him and I’ve certainly tried to be there for him during the summer. But he’s in a really good place, and I’m looking forward to seeing him play this season.

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Watching Marcus Rashford play in a Manchester United shirt again felt like an impossibility even just a few weeks ago, but it looks as though the Wythenshawe lad is set to stay at his boyhood club for the foreseeable future.

Having enjoyed a season on loan with Barcelona, where he won the title and hoped to stay, Rashford has found himself back at Carrington following the Spanish club’s lack of interest in making the deal permanent.

Speaking to the press ahead of our opening game against Hull tomorrow, Michael Carrick has spoken about how well Rashford has settled back in to life in Manchester and how likely it is to see him play more centrally given the injury to Benjamin Sesko.

It’s been pretty obvious since Marcus came back training with Kobbie and Licha pretty much, in Dublin. He’s come back fantastically well, he’s enjoying his football, he looks fit, he looks sharp, he looks strong, he looks ready to play football. So, I’ve been delighted with him since he’s come back. Yeah, of course he can play through in the middle. He has done. I wouldn’t say it’s naturally his number-one position, but he can do that, and I think we’ve got forwards that give us that flexibility right across the frontline, that we’ve used all of them, pretty much, in slightly different roles. So, I think for us to have that option is really good moving through the season.

Carrick also had an update on the injuries to new signing Karl Darlow, De Light and Sesko.

Karl’s trained this week. He’s back training, so he’s in good shape. Matta’s obviously been out for a long period of time, but he’s training and great to have him back. He won’t be involved, but he’s in good shape and moving in a good direction, so that’s really a good bonus for us really, at this stage, to have him back. Ben’s back training, so that’s, again, another positive. Looking forward to having him back around the group and getting him some minutes as well. And then managing Mason a little bit, but he’s very close, so it’s touch and go for the weekend, really, if not, going into next week.

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Manchester United’s Premier League season starts tomorrow afternoon as we take on Hull away in the early kick-off.

Luke Shaw, who is about to begin his 13th season with the club, has spoken to MUTV about how the start of this season feels in comparison to the others.

I think you always have the same feeling. Every year is the same. There is always the same hunger, the same excitement every pre-season but, you know, I feel really, really positive about this season – with the group, with the manager.

You know, the way things are around the place. Everyone is extremely positive, so I’m really looking forward to this season.

I think it’s 100 per cent true [that the mood in the camp is among the best I’ve known here]. Of course, like you have said, I have been in there for a long time now. So I’ve experienced different groups, different atmospheres but I would certainly say this is the most positive, happiest and probably talented group that we’ve had.

At 31, Shaw is one of the most experienced players in the squad and has reflected on the responsibility he feels to help other players adjust and thrive to life at United.

Definitely, look I’ve got so much experience, from being at this club for so long. For me, the biggest club in the world and I think, you know, sometimes coming to this club, it’s not always as easy as you think. And, of course, for me, I’ve experienced it all and I’ve been through a lot of things here. Ups and downs. So I’ve learnt a lot and, for me, it’s about giving my experiences to them and helping them to adapt to this club quickly. The players that have come in so far, they’ve fitted into the group really well. They bring really good energy, not just on the pitch but off the pitch. They’ve been great around the lads and really settled in quickly and, you know, for us that’s always important, to make them feel at home. They’re really good additions to the group.

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Death, taxes and Mason Mount picking up an injury. The former Chelsea player has been unavailable on such a regular basis since joining the club it’s become impossible to rely on him.

After starting the pre-season well, shining in our opening fixtures, Mount picked up a knock and is again not fit to play.

Speaking to the press ahead of our opening game of the season against Hull, Carrick insists the injury was nothing serious and the midfielder will be back soon.

I think, first of all, Mason’s a top player. Top player. I think we’ve seen that so far in pre-season, he’s one of our best players in the early stages in the games that he played, and I thought he was fantastic. So, not surprising, it’s what I’ve seen before, what I expect, what I know of him. And he’s picked up a little bit of a knock, it’s no dramas. Maybe it’s been a week or so, or 10 days, or whatever it’s been. So, it’s nothing major. Yeah, of course he’s missed some football over recent years and he wants to be fit, he wants to be in that full rhythm and he wants to stay fit. So, we’re doing our best to help him do that, but he’s a top player, Mase. It’s the same as the squad, we’ve got to manage the squad, there are going to be injuries through the season. We got to have a squad that’s strong enough to have a really good, top starting team with a depth to carry us through the season. Mason will be back very, very soon, if not immediately. So it’s all good.

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Manchester United beat Leeds 5-4 on penalties last night after the friendly finished 1-1. Bruno Fernandes surprised everyone when missing the target with his spotkick, but that didn’t put Noussair Mazraoui off from scoring the winner.

Speaking to the official site after the game, Mazraoui reflected on the game and atmosphere.

It’s nice to score the winning penalty, but even in friendlies, the aim is to win the game. I think the best way to prepare for the full season is to go into every game to win. Even here [in Dublin], you can feel the rivalry of this game. It was an amazing atmosphere.

Mazraoui was in the USA over the summer representing Morocco at the World Cup, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France after finishing on the same points as Brazil in the group stage. He said playing in that tournament has kept him at a good level physically.

I don’t think you lose too much in three weeks off. I’ve played a lots of games at the World Cup, so physically, I’m not too far off from being at my top level. I feel fresh and I’m ready to begin the new season.

Mazraoui also reflected on how well new signings Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans have already settled in at the club.

They’ve settled in really well. We have a good group of guys – very easy going, and I think we have players who give this feeling to the new signings. You can see that straight away in the quality they show in games.

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