Manchester United vs Wrexham LIVE: Pre-season friendly match stream, confirmed team news, lineups and fan reaction | OneFootball

Red Devils commence new campaign in Scandinavia

Manchester United take on Wrexham this afternoon in the first of their pre-season friendlies. The Red Devils face the Championship outfit in Helsinki, Finland, at the country’s Olympic Stadium. It will be the first game of Michael Carrick’s permanent tenure as United boss, after he was handed the reins on a full-time basis after a successful second caretaker spell.

The former midfielder led his old employers back to the Champions League for the first time since 2023, having taken over the reins from Ruben Amorim back in January. He has since been backed in the transfer market, with the club bringing in the likes of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans to bolster his engine room, while Karl Darlow arrives on a free transfer to push first-choice goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

United will be without a host of stars this afternoon with most of their squad involved at this summer’s World Cup, but there may be some debut minutes for a new signing along the way. Keep up to date with all the latest from Helsinki with our live blog below.

Live updates

Half an hour to kick off

Here are the two teams for those that missed them...

Man Utd XI: Heaton; Yoro, Maguire, Heaven, Shaw; Santos, Fletcher; Mbeumo, Mount, Dorgu; Zirkzee

Wrexham XI: Okwonkwo; Thomason, Scarr, Doyle; Vyner, James, James, O’Brien, Broadhead; Cadamarteri, Smith

The players are here

Man Utd issue Rashford transfer stance as 'plan revealed'

Manchester United have issued their stance on Marcus Rashford’s future.

The England forward is currently in transfer limbo, with Barcelona not taking up their buy option in the loan deal they struck with the Red Devils last summer.

Rashford spent the term at the Nou Camp, where he played 49 games and scored 14 goals, but the La Liga outfit did not want to pay the €30million price that had been set in order to turn his move permanent.

Why is Sesko not playing today?

Benjamin Sesko will not feature for Manchester United as they open their new season against Wrexham today.

He did not play at this summer’s World Cup with Slovenia, who didn’t qualify, but he misses this match through another fitness concern.

PA

A debut awaits...

Teams are out!

'Man Utd vs Wrexham will be a fun watch'

"It's all part of preseason and building interest. Man Utd fans will love to see the new kit and new players,” Louis Saha told BettingLounge.

Wrexham is an attraction because of what they achieved in consecutive years and what they have built around the world. These strange combinations of fixtures and destinations are strong for promotion, so it will be fun to watch.

"It doesn't say much for the Premier League season since so much is still to happen in the transfer market, but we can see the fitness and first glimpses of the tactics being applied.

"It’s an exciting game and I’ll predict a win for Man Utd of course."