Manchester United's non-World Cup players returned to their first few days of pre-season training on Thursday morning as Michael Carrick gears up for his first full campaign in charge of the squad.

The new head coach welcomed the likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Mason Mount, and Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu back to Carrington, with the players being put through their paces and their fitness tested.

The club kick off their first pre-season game on Saturday as they face Wrexham in Helsinki, Finland. They will then play Rosenborg in Trondheim, Norway, six days later, before a tie against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, Sweden.

A further three matches against Paris Saint-Germain (Gothenburg, Sweden), Leeds United (Dublin, Republic of Ireland), and AC Milan (Wroclaw, Poland) will see the Reds play six games in preparation for the 2026/27 campaign.

Below are four key talking points from the opening few days of United's pre-season training camp.

United released a few clips of footage from the opening days of training, and what was immediately apparent on the pitch was the amount of close-control work being done by the players.

The likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire, and Luke Shaw were doing a lot of drills involving quick, deft touches in close quarters, such as bouncing balls off a net and working together to the ball in the air before passing it softly into a bin.

While United's side under Carrick during the second half of last campaign often focused on quick transitions, this could be an early indication of a tactical shift toward a more dominant style of play at Old Trafford.

Last pre-season, under Rúben Amorim, many of United's more injury-prone stars underwent their own specialised fitness programmes to manage their recovery and minimise the risk of injury, but this was not seen in the opening few days this time round.

The likes of Mason Mount and Shaw have had plenty of injuries during their respective careers in Red, while Zirkzee had his own fitness programme last summer, but all of United's available squad were equally involved in the sessions on camera.

While managing fitness is a season-long commitment, particularly for injury-prone stars, it is good to see that the club are confident, so far, that they can have these players fully integrated into the squad from the opening day.

As is mentioned above, a lot of the work the Carrington cameras caught involved close-control and sharp movements during the opening days of pre-season training.

Another point to make is that much of this work was done by United's available defenders, such as Maguire, Shaw, and Ayden Heaven. The defenders could be spotted with the ball at their feet for much of the footage.

This could further suggest that Carrick is looking to adopt a more dominant, possession-based style of football next campaign.

From the early moments of the footage released by United, it is clear that Carrick took the time to encourage not just his senior stars but also young players such as Shea Lacey.

Other young stars like Tyler Fredricson and Harry Amass were also present, with the latter having returned to full fitness after suffering an injury while on loan with Norwich City.

Toby Collyer, who has also had injury-ridden campaigns, looked fit and ready as he looks to break into the squad and impress Carrick.