Untested youngster gets nod as Man Utd name Europa League squad

Manchester United have announced their 24-man squad to participate in the Europa League – and there’s a shock call-up for untested youth keeper Matej Kovar.

United will play in the Europa League this season after only mustering a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, with the Red Devils learning who they will face in the group stages last week. 

And it’s clear United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is happy to turn to youth in the opening round of fixtures, with Kovar among the 24 selected for the Europa League group games.

United are in Group L for the competition and will take on Astana of Kazakhstan, Partizan Belgrade and AZ Alkmaar.

Solskjaer admits he will be taking the competition seriously with United having won it under Jose Mourinho for the first time in their history back in 2017.

And the United manager also admitted he was happy to depend on youth after the club announced their A-list of players for the competition.

“We want to win this tournament of course,” he said.

“It’s a competition that we know a lot about, we won it a couple of years back and it can be a way into the Champions League for next season.

“It’s also a way that we can use the squad and some youngsters will play these games.

“We’ll just focus on when the games come and see where we’re at.”

Summer signings Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James are of course included.

Man Utd’s Europa League squad

A LIST

Eric Bailly, Diogo Dalot, David De Gea, Fred, Daniel James, Matej Kovar, Victor Lindelof, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Marcos Rojo, Sergio Romero.

CLUB TRAINED

Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Axel Tuanzebe.

ASSOCIATION TRAINED

Lee Grant, Phil Jones, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ashley Young.

Get the latest personalised Red Devils products on our new TEAMtalk Man Utd shop!