None of the five will be in Manchester United's pre-season. The club made their decision months ago that none of them would be in their 2025/26 mindset, and they are recommended to enter the grounds when the senior team is done. This is an ostensibly new policy for running the club, which is completely in support of boss Ruben Amorim. Each of the five is welcome to look elsewhere.
1. Alejandro Garnacho
Alejandro Garnacho is an outlier in the team. He was once seen as an asset for tomorrow in the club. Young, gifted, and crowd favourite, he even had high future sale value. But he isn't in the team squad Amorim is set to inherit. The club was putting him on the market months ago.
Chelsea are still in. They've pursued Garnacho for the previous season and will definitely be in the mix. United is not going to be in their way, though, provided an offer is made.
2. Antony
Antony in unprecedented amounts of hype, not to mention an outrageous transfer price and known faces in the administration. Yet, nothing quite panned out. His quality was not quite consistent, and even when getting steady minutes, could not quite touch quality desired.
He was loaned to Real Betis, for which he played some good games, but in general, the performance was not very good. Being back, he would not be integrated in the team. United is considering selling him or loaning him, depending on what the market is and on the desire of the footballer to be transferred.
3. Sancho
Jadon Sancho was loaned for the final term in Chelsea. That was fine for keeping him busy and active, but not quite fine for him to guarantee himself a future in United. For now, he hasn’t been recalled for the first team.
Chelsea remains interested, but no transfer is made. Sancho still retains future options in England and in Europe. United would rather settle the case before pre-season ends in order not to present further complications as well as free some squad positions.
4. Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford's tale at United is an important one. He progressed through the academy, played crucial parts in seasons past, even was visible in leadership positions in times when United was behind. His form dipped, though. He spent an forgettable loan stint at Aston Villa and is back, but nothing is set in stone about what's next for him.
The club believes the moment is right for him to do so. There is respect, but performances are not synchronized anymore in the way United is targeting. He, as anyone, can train in the facilities, but apart from the core team.
5. Malacia
Tyrell Malacia is lowest-profile in the quintet, but the verdict is the same. He was loaned to PSV, played sparingly, and could not credibly appeal for inclusion in the squad. Amorim is not even considering for him either.
Malacia is also included in the transfer list. The team would rather set a definitive transfer, but a loan is still an option in case the necessity arises.
Pre-season means progress which is ongoing
United's pre-season begins on July 7, and they do have some important friendlies in their schedule. They are beginning against Leeds in Stockholm. Then, they would be in the United States for their Premier League Summer Series, where they would be playing against Everton, Bournemouth and West Ham in Chicago.
Such fixtures would provide the personnel an opportunity to assess the team in place and fine-tune their policies in their transfers. Omission of five starters is an open indication that rebuilding is in progress and the aforementioned pre-season would provide the team their very first clear indication as to where.