Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool new signings' contrasting debuts in pre-season
Pre-season is well under way, with all of the Premier League’s top sides away on tour around the world and busy playing friendlies.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea have all opted to head to the United States where they are training in good facilities, engaging their fans and playing some prestigious friendlies. Liverpool are currently in Germany, but will soon be heading to Singapore, while Tottenham are in Australia and Manchester City in Japan.
While the eyes of most fans will currently be on the transfer market, they are also keen to hear who is impressing in the friendlies. With some international players still getting up to speed, youngsters have been handed opportunities to catch the eye.
Meanwhile, fans have been given a first glimpse at new signings, some of whom have immediately impressed. Here Mirror Football gives you the lowdown on everything you need to know from pre-season friendlies so far.
Manchester United
United have played two games so far and have two wins and two clean sheets to show for it. They got their pre-season off to a start with a friendly against Leeds in Oslo before facing Lyon in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
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The trip to Norway came too early for some of United’s most established players, who had been given extra time off to recover from international fixtures. That meant opportunity knocked for youngsters and Erik ten Hag was happy with what he saw, as goals from Noam Emeran and Joe Hugill gave them a 2-0 win.
Mason Mount made his first start in the Leeds game following his £60million move from Chelsea and put in an encouraging display in central midfield. His intensity in the press was eye-catching and he nearly scored a brilliant goal by chipping onto the roof of the net from 40 yards after stealing possession.
Mason Mount has been hailed as "complete midfielder" by Erik ten Hag (ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)Ten Hag gave him a glowing review. "I think you have already seen today what he can bring," he said. "He is a complete midfield player who suits Manchester United."
Mount enjoyed himself too. "I really liked the role I was in today," he said. "Being able to drop in and build up the play from a bit deeper, but with that license to go forward and make runs into the box and be involved in more attacks. I like to start off the press, to give the opposition something to think about and then to combine that with an attacking threat and rhythm of our own."
Mount featured again in a 1-0 win over Lyon in Scotland, which came courtesy of a well-taken volley from Donny van de Beek. The match was most notable for a return to the fold for Jonny Evans after the 35-year-old defender signed a short-term deal with his old club.
Ten Hag and his players have since flown over the Atlantic to begin their tour of the US. Andre Onana will join his new team-mates on the east coast after completing a medical at Carrington.
Arsenal
Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber played vs MLS All Stars (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)The Gunners are one step ahead of United, having been in the US for some time and already played a friendly there. Mikel Arteta’s side started their pre-season in Germany, where they drew 1-1 with Nurnberg.
That match saw a debut for Kai Havertz with Bukayo Saka scoring Arsenal’s goal. Things have stepped up a notch Stateside, where Arteta has been joined by Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber following their transfers to the club.
After a decent period of training in Washington, the Gunners laid waste to Wayne Rooney ’s MLS All Stars in a 5-0 drubbing. Arsenal, sporting their eye-catching new away kit, barely got out of second gear as they thrashed the best the MLS has to offer.
Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard scored high-quality goals before Jorginho, Gabriel Martinelli and Havertz also got on the scoresheet. Both Rice and Timber came off the bench to make their unofficial debuts, but it was Havertz whose performance gave the most interesting talking point (after he flopped in a skills challenge ).
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Kai Havertz scored against MLS All Stars (AFP via Getty Images)Despite playing in midfield, Arteta hinted that the German might be used as a target man in future.
"He gives us something different," he said. "His height for example where he can be a target man if we need to beat the press. He’s playing at centre-attacking midfield for now but I’m sure throughout the season he’ll be used in different positions."
Next up: Manchester United at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Liverpool
Alexis Mac Allister made his unofficial Liverpool debut against Karlsruher (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)It’s all change at Liverpool, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister arriving after James Milner, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Naby Keita left. Roberto Firmino has left for Saudi Arabia, while Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are set to follow suit.
That means more midfielders are needed, but the good news for Jurgen Klopp is that the two he’s already signed look at home already. The Reds beat German side Karlsruher 4-2 on Wednesday, with Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo both scoring and Diogo Jota netting twice to secure the win.
Trent Alexander-Arnold continued to turn heads up by lining up in midfield alongside Szoboszlai. Mac Allister came off the bench wearing the No10 shirt and caught the eye of many excited fans by setting up one of Jota’s goals. The Argentine completed 27 out of 32 attempted passes and had Liverpool fans purring on social media.
Promising stuff for Liverpool’s two newest midfielders, even if more will soon be needed. Liverpool have another game against Gruether Furth in Germany on Monday before they jet off to Singapore to play Leicester and Bayern Munich.
Chelsea
Christopher Nkunku scored in Chelsea's 5-0 win over Wrexham (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)The Mauricio Pochettino era has begun at Chelsea, who are in much need of a complete reset following a disastrous 12th-place finish in the Premier League last season.
Pochettino’s intense training methods are legendary and are already making an impact on his new squad. The Blues have already sold a whole host of first-team players and are working on more, leaving Pochettino with an interesting group to work with.
He put out a youthful side, which included new striker Nicolas Jackson, to face Wrexham in North Carolina and they were 2-0 up by half-time thanks to Ian Maatsen. The 21-year-old has made a name for himself while on loan with Coventry and Burnley over the past two seasons and could be handed a chance at his parent club now.
Pochettino brought on some more senior players after the break and they ran out comfortable 5-0 winners against Ryan Reynolds’ side. Conor Gallagher, new signing Christopher Nkunku and Ben Chilwell all netted as Pochettino’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation was on show.
Interestingly, despite £52m man Nkunku scoring, Pochettino claimed Chelsea are short on strikers. He said: “I think for the possibility today and the different players we have available and I think it’s a position we decide today… we only have Jackson and him with the possibility to play as a striker."
Tottenham
James Maddison played in Tottenham's 3-2 loss to West Ham in Perth (James Worsfold/Getty Images)Spurs have gone Down Under to the homeland of their new manager, Ange Postecoglou. They kicked things off on Tuesday with a 3-2 defeat by West Ham in a pre-season friendly at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Their goals came from forgotten midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who had been on loan at Villarreal, and Destiny Udogie, who joined up with the team after signing last summer before being loaned to Udinese. The Hammers claimed the win thanks to goals from Danny Ings, Divin Mubama and Gianluca Scamacca.
James Maddison and Manor Solomon turned out for the first time in a Spurs shirt before the former played an eventful round of golf with Harry Kane.
Postecoglou’s side are next in action against Leicester City at the Rajamangala Stadium in Thailand on Sunday. They will then play the Lion City Sailors in Singapore before returning home to face Shakhtar Donetsk in north London and Barcelona in Spain.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side are yet to play a friendly, but are flying out to Tokyo for their pre-season tour of Asia.
City will play sister club Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday and Bayern Munich on Wednesday in Japan’s capital before heading to South Korea to play Atletico Madrid.
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