De Gea replaced and Mount - What Manchester United's starting XI could look like for 2023/24 season

Manchester United started the season with a defeat against Brighton at Old Trafford and the worst for the campaign was feared.

Erik ten Hag wanted to begin his tenure with a home victory, but with the benefit of hindsight, the team he selected on that warm summer day of August 7 was always likely to struggle against the most talented Brighton side there's ever been.

Harry Maguire started at centre-back, Scott McTominay, Fred and Bruno Fernandes started in midfield and Christian Eriksen surprisingly played as a false nine, with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford on the wings.

The decision to play Eriksen as a false nine was the biggest pre-match talking point, especially with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and in the post-mortem of the defeat, Ten Hag explained the ploy was used to make the attack 'dynamic'.

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Eriksen in that role didn't work and it was the last time he played there. It was also the last time McTominay and Fred started together in the season, with the McFred partnership once loved by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now confined to the past.

The most settled starting team this term hasn't included Maguire, Fred and McTominay and it seems two of those players could leave this summer, with the latter most likely to be kept from that midfield pair due to his age.

Fred is 30 years old and the club are aware of the rising average age of the squad. There is interest in the Brazilian from Fulham and it seems logical for him to depart to make room for the signing of a younger midfielder.

The starting team for the opening day of the new season will obviously be different from the 2022/23 opening line up and it's hoped a world-class striker will be