Seven things Erik ten Hag must address in Manchester United pre-season

It may feel like football has only just finished if, in fact, it has at all, but already we're just a week away from the cycle beginning all over again.

It hardly feels like yesterday when Manchester United rounded off their worst-ever Premier League campaign with a fittingly dire defeat at Crystal Palace on the final day. But in just seven days' time, the first batch of the squad will return to Carrington for pre-season training. Though the going has been slow in the transfer market so far, it's still been a summer of change in Manchester and there will be a new man in charge when the players return.

Erik ten Hag has a massive job on his hands to turn his new side's fortunes around and the groundwork for any success will begin in the summer. With just seven days left for the Dutchman to prepare, here are seven things he has to do before the season gets underway.

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A situation that Ten Hag will have to quickly address is that of the club captaincy. Harry Maguire endured a terrible season last term and his leadership of the team has come under severe scrutiny as a result.

There's a sentiment that the centre-back may benefit from being stripped of the burden of leading the side and being allowed to focus on improving his own game but, in turn, such a blow could be a further dent to his confidence. There aren't a lot of standout candidates for the armband — Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and David de Gea are the only realistic options — so it could be a difficult decision for the manager.

Not only has there been little activity with incomings but there haven't been any sales this summer yet either. Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani,