Erik ten Hag protege could be about to get his latest Manchester United audition

Just 39 days after their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley, Manchester United will embark on their pre-season schedule for the forthcoming campaign on Wednesday.

United take on Championship side Leeds United in Oslo in their first of eight scheduled friendlies ahead of the season opener against Wolves at Old Trafford on August 14. The trip to Norway will signal the start of another long and gruelling campaign, meaning it is vitally important that everyone treats this period seriously.

Pre-season is an opportunity for players to lay down a marker ahead of the new campaign and force their way into their manager's thoughts ahead of the big kick-off, and the situation is no different at United, certainly ahead of this opening friendly.

As a result of international fixtures taking place last month, 15 members of United's first-team squad will not be involved in Norway. They were entitled to a three-week break before reporting back to Carrington for the start of pre-season training.

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It means the likes of Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho will all be absent in Oslo. They are likely to appear in pre-season for the first time when the Reds face Lyon at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Wednesday-week.

It means the clash with Leeds, which is likely to be played at a slow pace, just as most opening pre-season friendlies are, will represent an opportunity for manager Erik ten Hag to assess some of his fringe players and the younger members of the