The Man Utd kids tipped to shine in pre-season

Manchester United's youngsters are chasing silverware on a couple of fronts. At under-21 level, Adam Lawrence's side beat Sunderland on Sunday to secure a Premier League 2 play-off quarter-final trip to Crystal Palace. Darren Fletcher's under-18 side may miss out on the Premier League North title to Manchester City, but they have a chance to avenge that in the FA Youth Cup final against their neighbours - the date for which is still to be agreed as it is wrapped up in the fixture wrangle affecting Pep Guardiola's title-chasing senior squad. For United's players, these matches are huge and could have a significant impact on who gets an opportunity to play a meaningful role in the early part of pre-season and push their claims for more involvement at senior level. In 2018, United's first pre-season game came four days after France beat Croatia in the World Cup final. Jose Mourinho's squad included seven rookies, including Tahith Chong, James Garner and Mason Greenwood, who was only 16 at the time. This time around, United start their pre-season the day before the final, against Premier League promotion hopefuls Wrexham in Helsinki on 18 July. Given players are allowed a minimum three-week break between the end of one season and the start of the next, it effectively means any player involved in the World Cup will not be in Finland. Of the current squad, Patrick Dorgu, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko play for countries who have not qualified. …