Why Erik ten Hag won't be afraid to hand out two Manchester United debuts vs Fulham

After being driven into Carrington on Monday morning, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui are one step closer to joining Manchester United.

United finally reached an agreement with Bayern Munich for the duo over the weekend. If everything goes according to plan, they will become the club's third and fourth signings of the summer.

United have been chasing De Ligt to strengthen their centre-back options and interest in Mazraoui surfaced as soon as it became likely that Aaron Wan-Bissaka would be offloaded. The latter is on the cusp of finalising a move to West Ham United.

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Wan-Bissaka was left out of the matchday squad at Wembley on Saturday. Victor Lindelof, Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia also missed out, leaving Erik ten Hag light on defensive options.

Despite Harry Amass' impressive performances during the pre-season tour, he was left out of the squad, much to everyone's amazement, meaning Lisandro Martinez deputised at left-back. Harry Maguire, who missed the final pre-season friendly as a precaution, partnered Jonny Evans in the heart of the defence and Diogo Dalot lined up at right-back.

United fans will be hoping that Ten Hag will be able to provide more uplifting news on the injury front when he addresses the media later this week ahead of Friday night's Premier League opener against Fulham. Shaw missed large chunks of last season and Malacia has not kicked a ball for United since the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

Should Shaw be unavailable for the season's curtain-raiser, it could be