Man Utd recover Onana and Zirkzee ahead of Premier League opener

Manchester United have confirmed goalkeeper Andre Onana and forward Joshua Zirkzee have returned to training ahead of their Premier League opener against Arsenal.

Neither player has featured during pre-season, with Zirkzee seeing his 2024-25 campaign ended by injury in April, while Onana suffered a hamstring issue in July.

An update issued by the club on Monday confirmed both players were taking part in full training with Ruben Amorim’s squad, as they prepare to host the Gunners on Sunday.

Onana was tipped for a move earlier in the transfer window after enduring another difficult 2024-25 campaign, making three errors leading to goals in the Premier League.

Only Arijanet Muric, Robert Sanchez and Bart Verbruggen (all five) made more, while Alphonse Areola made as many as Onana.

Onana did impress in the shot-stopping department at least, conceding 40 goals (excluding own goals and penalties) from shots with an expected goals on target (xGoT) value of 41.3, meaning he effectively prevented 1.3 goals.

United were linked with Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and have been touted as a possible landing spot for Gianluigi Donnarumma if he leaves Paris Saint-Germain, but Onana remains their first-choice goalkeeper for the time being.

Zirkzee, meanwhile, appeared in 31 of 32 games between Amorim’s arrival last November and his injury, which occurred during a 4-1 defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Zirkzee scored six goals in that time, with only captain Bruno Fernandes netting more, though the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko mean he will likely start the new season on the bench.