20 Man Utd stars at first Erik ten Hag session as Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire excused

Manchester United’s first-team players returned to Carrington on Monday morning for their first pre-season session ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

It was a first taste of life under the Erik ten Hag era as the former Ajax boss took charge of the Red Devils’ training session for the first time since his arrival from his native Netherlands last month.

In total, 20 senior players have reportedly been confirmed to have been in attendance for the first day of pre-season training on Monday, with a number of players missing due to being on international duty with their respective countries earlier this month.

Star striker Cristiano Ronaldo is among a large number of players not due to return to pre-season training until next Monday, although reports from the Manchester Evening News suggest that the returns of some players will be staggered ahead of flying to Bangkok for the first leg of the club’s pre-season tour on July 8.

Ronaldo was in Portugal’s squad for their June UEFA Nations League fixtures with Spain, Switzerland (twice) and the Czech Republic alongside club colleagues Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.

Raphael Varane, Alex Telles, Scott McTominay, James Garner, Fred, Hannibal Mejbri, Facundo Pellistri, Alejandro Garnacho and Anthony Elanga were all also on international duty this month, suggesting there returns to training will not be until next week at the earliest. However, Garnacho is already back at Carrington having returned early from his pre-season break, despite scoring four goals in five caps for Argentina’s under-20s at this month’s Toulon Tournament.

Club captain and England international centre-back Harry Maguire has also been granted permission to have an extended break after representing Gareth