Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has called talk of his team being title challengers "ridiculous" and dismissed the notion that the club has an easy start to the Premier League season.
United begin their campaign away at Hull City on Saturday, followed by a home fixture against newly-promoted Ipswich Town. Despite these opponents, Carrick stated that there are "no favourable starts" and described the idea of an easy opening as "pretty ridiculous."
"It's a tough start against both teams, but we're not getting past Saturday," Carrick said. "A newly-promoted team away from home will be a tough game. That is the beauty of the new season. For teams coming up into the league, there tend to be quite a few changes. That is the challenge playing against them, we are fully aware of that."
Carrick acknowledged the challenge of competing for the Premier League title while also participating in the Champions League. "It's going to be a jump," he stated. "It doesn’t matter whether I say whether we can or can’t – and I would never say we can’t – it’s about what we can do, and what we are capable of doing as a group. The run of form we had last season gives us confidence, but we know there is a whole new step to make as a group. We have the potential to achieve things and we have to believe we can do good things."
Regarding potential squad reinforcements, Manchester United have reportedly made a £65 million offer for Brighton's Carlos Baleba, adding to their summer spending of £85 million on Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans. The club is also looking to strengthen at left-back.
Carrick expressed optimism about the transfer window closing. "I just think we are looking to strengthen the squad, and we are working towards that," he said. "We’re certainly trying to make the most of the opportunities to finish the window stronger than we went into it, and I think we are in a good way to doing that so far."
Marcus Rashford has returned from a loan spell at Barcelona and has impressed Carrick with his attitude and fitness. "It has been pretty obvious that Marcus came back training with Kobbie (Mainoo) and Licha (Martinez) that he has come back fantastically well," Carrick added. "He looks strong, sharp and ready to play football. He can play through the middle, even though it’s not his No 1 position. We have forwards that give us that flexibility."
There is positive news on the injury front, with Mason Mount nearing fitness after a foot injury. Benjamin Sesko, Matthijs De Ligt, and new goalkeeper Karl Darlow, who missed pre-season, are also back in training.
"Karl has trained this week, he is in good shape," Carrick confirmed. "Mattha has been out for a long period of time, but he is training, and it’s great to have him back. He won’t be involved but he is in good shape and moving in a good direction, so that is a bonus for us. Ben is back training so that is another positive and we’re looking forward to having him back around the group and getting him some minutes."
"We’re managing Mason a little bit, but he is very close," Carrick continued. "He’s touch and go for the weekend really and going into next week. Mason will be back very, very soon, if not immediately, so it's all good."