Seven Manchester United players have four months to prove a point ahead of the World Cup

Next season will provide a challenge that no club manager has any experience of navigating and at the moment the question is just how big an impact a winter World Cup will have on the 2022/23 campaign.

In a standard World Cup year, the tournament would get underway this Friday, but the vote to hand the tournament to Qatar has left us with the unpalatable and ludicrous prospect of a tournament that will begin on November 21, with the final taking place a week before Christmas.

It's impossible for the tournament not to have an impact on the outcome of domestic football's biggest prizes, given it has condensed the schedule either side of November and December, while clubs who lose most of their squad will have a balancing act to consider when it comes to fatigue this season.

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It is something managers will already be planning around now we pretty much know the make-up of the 32 finalists in Qatar, with just two more spots up for grabs.

The presence of a World Cup in November and December means more midweek Premier League rounds than usual, while the six group games in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League will take place in six successive midweeks.

While they're unlikely to admit it, managers will be pleased if any of their key players either don't qualify for the tournament or don't make the final cut for their countries, given the rest it will afford them in the middle of the campaign.

Erik ten Hag has plenty on his plate as Manchester United manager this summer, but like his counterparts, he will have one eye on the World Cup.

Planning for it is difficult, however, given there are a lot of United players who have found