United beaten in Wroclaw as pre-season ends on sour note

Manchester United brought the curtain down on their pre-season preparations on Saturday with a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan in Wroclaw. Goals from Harry Maguire and Patrick Dorgu were not enough to prevent a loss that gave former United boss Ruben Amorim a measure of revenge after his ill-fated spell at Old Trafford.

Milan led through the performance of Goncalo Ramos and Samuel Chukwueze, both of whom scored and provided two assists apiece for the Rossoneri. Alphadjo Cisse and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were also on target, while back-up goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani saved a penalty from Bruno Fernandes at 1-1. Milan generated 3.21 expected goals from 13 shots, compared to United's 1.78 xG from 10 attempts.

Rashford returns, Maguire calls for him to stay

One of the most notable moments of the game came in the second half when Michael Carrick introduced Marcus Rashford from the bench for his first United appearance since December 2024. Rashford's last competitive outing for the Red Devils was a Europa League win over Viktoria Plzen 20 months ago.

Since then he has had loan spells at Aston Villa – for whom he scored four goals and supplied five assists in 17 matches in 2025 – and Barcelona. Rashford helped the Blaugrana retain their LaLiga title last season, making 49 appearances in all competitions and providing 25 goal involvements, 14 goals and 11 assists, including a stunning free-kick in Barcelona's title-clinching win over Real Madrid. Barcelona did not make the loan permanent this summer, instead moving for his England team-mate Anthony Gordon.

With Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal credited with interest in his services, Maguire made a public plea to keep him at Old Trafford.

"Obviously, the transfer window is still open," Maguire said. "As players, we hope he stays because if he does, he is a big asset to have. He can improve us, for sure. You saw when he came on, he threatened their backline really well. He could have scored. He's a huge threat. I've played with Marcus for numerous years and I know that playing against him and playing with him in training is going to help us."

Carrick admits no excuses

Interim boss Michael Carrick said there were "no excuses" for United's display, with less than a week to go before the Premier League opener at Hull City.

"On the whole, pre-season has been very good, I think there are a lot of positives to take from it," Carrick told MUTV. "We're disappointed with today. We didn't play well, and there are reasons for that. We need to learn from it, we need to improve. Some of the boys were playing their first minutes. There are different reasons, anyway. There are no excuses, we just didn't play very well."

Carrick would not be drawn on the nature of Rashford's role in 2026-27, saying all his players needed minutes in the bank.

"A lot of the boys will be better for the minutes," Carrick said. "We've got a good squad, so there are decisions to be made."

Maguire also spoke warmly of former head coach Ruben Amorim, who left United in January after overseeing the club's worst-ever Premier League finish in 2024-25 and a Europa League final defeat.

"It was great to see him and all his staff. I got on with Ruben and all his staff really well. I am happy he has another chance to impress and show everyone what a great manager he is. I'm sure he's going to be a success. I have nothing bad to say about Ruben. It just didn't work out at Manchester United. He's got a massive club now. I'll be following them and hope they have an amazing season."