Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro try to steal the ball from an opponent during the Europa League thriller against Lyon.
Luke Shaw (left) and Leny Yoro will be eyeing key roles next season.
The prospect of Manchester United playing as few as 40 games next season means head coach Ruben Amorim will not have to rotate quite as frequently as he did last season.
United's failure to qualify for the Champions League via the Europa League means they will only have domestic matters to focus on in 2025/26 in the form of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Not since 2014/15 have United had a season without European football. They successfully managed to get back into the Champions League for 2015/16 that season by securing a top four finish.
Once again, United's main objective next season has to be securing European football for 2026/27. European participation brings a whole host of benefits, not least financially.
However, one of the biggest advantages of United being out of Europe next season is that Amorim will not have as congested a fixture schedule to deal with, meaning there will be a lot of free midweeks to spend on the training ground.
As encouraging as that could be as a collective, some individuals may find game time much harder to come by. United need to reduce the size of their squad and a whole host of departures are expected.
However, the bulk of the exits United are planning for are in the attacking department, with . Alejandro Garnacho has also been told he can leave for the right price.
The prospect of each member of that aforementioned quartet being sold will generate funds for United to reinvest elsewhere in the squad. They plan to sign Bryan Mbeumo, a striker, a midfielder and a goalkeeper.
One area which is not expected to be strengthened, though, is the centre-back department. After signing Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro last summer and then Ayden Heaven in February, United are very well stocked at the back.
Ayden Heaven has been excellent since arriving from Arsenal. (Image: Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Manchester United via Getty Images.)
Despite the impending exits of out-of-contract duo Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof, United still have five first-team centre-backs they can all upon in the shape of Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, De Ligt, Yoro and Heaven. Noussair Mazraoui and Luke Shaw are also equally comfortable operating in the back-three.
Injury issues meant United didn't finish the 2024/25 campaign with a settled defence, meaning pre-season is set to determine who will make up Amorim's first-choice back-three come the start of the new campaign in August.
Amorim could find himself with four players believing they are worthy of occupying the left-sided centre-back spot. Martinez, both before and after United switched to a back-three, was the club's main left-sided centre-back.
However, his season-ending ACL injury meant the position was occupied by several different faces in the second half of the season, including Yoro, Heaven and Shaw.
Despite originally being signed to operate as the right-sided centre-back in a back-four, United's mid-season shift to a back-three was expected to see Yoro become Amorim's first-choice option on the right of his three-man defence. However, the Frenchman arguably produced his best performances for United so far on the opposite side of the defence.
"[Being] right footed is more easy for me sometimes on the right, but I really like to play on the left," Yoro said earlier this year. "When I go inside, I can put a long ball to the striker, or in the middle, so I like both sides. It's no problem for me."
Yoro has the capacity to become a staple in United's defence for many years to come, likewise Heaven, who has not put a foot wrong since arriving from Arsenal earlier this year.
Martinez will be hungry to reclaim the left-sided centre-back spot and make up for lost time once he recovers from his injury. He was just getting to grips with the demands of Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system prior to his injury and will be keen to demonstrate his ball-playing credentials.
If he can stay fit, Shaw will also be keen to muscle in on the conversation for a starting berth. Now that United operate with wing-backs, his main route into the team is at centre-back.
With no obvious winner, pre-season could decide who wins the race to become Amorim's first-choice left-sided centre-back.