A treble winning season for Man Utd last season, it’s not a bad way to start your Man Utd career for José Mourinho but the success in the cups wasn’t matched where it matters most to us Draft Managers, the Premier League. José Mourinho has become well known for having an even better second season, bookies even have Man Utd as 2nd favourites for the league despite only a couple of changes to the playing squad so far, this summer.

Goalkeepers

Will he, or won’t he? The tiresome David De Gea to Real Madrid rumours have been around since De Gea first slipped on a pair of gloves at Man Utd. While it does give the draft manager and element of doubt when it comes to picking up De Gea, it’d best to get in there quick for the man that has saved countless points for his team and has been a dominant keeper at the top of fantasy football tables for many a year.

If De Gea does depart then you’re guaranteed Man Utd will go out for a top keeper before the window closes but don’t be shocked if they promote from within either. Joel Pereira has been winning many plaudits and this season sees him promoted up from the Under 23’s squad.

David De Gea will be one of the first 3 keepers picked up in the draft so it’s best to move quickly on him. Man Utd’s defender hasn’t been the imposing force that it once was which has led to De Gea racking up bonus points for saves on top of his numerous clean sheets. He’s crucial to Man Utd and crucial to your team.

Defenders

Mourinho knows how to organise a defence and stifle the opposition, now, with a full year behind him, I expect a much more resolute defence this season from Man Utd. The first piece of business done by Man Utd this summer was the £30mil deal for Victor Lindelöf. Coming off a breakthrough season with Benfica and with 12 caps to his name, Lindelöf, will slot straight into the centre back position next to solid looking Eric Bailly.

Antonio Valencia remains unchallenged at right back. Valencia has proven to be a great pick up in the past as he provides clean sheets, goals and assists. The goals and assists from a defender are especially worth so much more to the draft manager which makes Valencia a good early pick up when looking at defenders.

The left back position at Man Utd still seems strange. Man Utd have an exciting young prospect in Luke Shaw but Mourinho just doesn’t seem to see it and comes across as overly critical about him more than any other player. Shaw may be worth picking up but who knows who will start in that position. Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson could all feasible start the season in that position.

When it comes to the draft, Valencia, Lindelöf and Bailly are the 3 that you’ll be wanting to pick up early. Expect them to be picked up around the 3rd or 4th rounds when people are starting to think of their defences. As for the rest, they could all be picked up in the latter rounds or even available on the waivers once people see how Mourinho sets up.

Midfielders

The ongoing saga for beach volleyball star Ivan Perišić has been dragging on for months now and I expect it to eventually go through which will lead to Perišić being a very good 2nd or 3rd round pick up but apart from this, Man Utd look largely unchanged in midfield.

Those playing with the Kante Rule will be thinking of drafting Pogba a bit earlier. The world record signing didn’t really light up the league last season. Pogba finished as the 23rd best midfielder, level on points with Everton’s Idrissa Gueye. If you’re looking for reliability and the occasional goal and assist then Pogba is a good choice but I wouldn’t be looking at him until maybe round 7 or 8, that’s without the Kante Rule on, with the rule enforced than Pogba could be a good 6th round pick up.

Expect rotation again this season when it comes to the Man Utd midfield. This rotation did leave players such as Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to be added and dropped quite regularly last season. It also puts them down in the draft pick order for me, maybe the middle rounds again. I certainly wouldn’t go too early on Mata or Herrera but this season may just be better for Mkhitaryan and he could well be a good 2nd or 3rd round pick up for you.

An additional thing to note is that in this year’s Draft Fantasy Football game, Anthony Martial is listed as a midfielder. If he gets regular game time, this could be a very astute pickup.

Forwards

The King is dead, long live the King! Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s knee injury cut short his spell in the Premier League and cut short the chances of an extended contract taking him into another season. Rumours are around that Zlatan may be coming back to Man Utd which could make him an excellent waiver pick up once he’s fit again in the new year.

Anthony Martial has been switched to a midfielder on the game which (as of the time of writing) leaves us with two options as forwards for Man Utd, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford. Romelu Lukaku will easily be a first round pick up, 25 goals and 6 assists are amazing, especially when you consider that Everton gave up in the latter weeks of the season.

Marcus Rashford I’m a huge fan of and it bugs me that he’s at Man Utd (without giving my team allegiance away) but what bugged me more is how little he was used in the league last season. There’s a lot less competition for places now that Zlatan and Rooney have departed so expect more game time for Rashford and expect him to be picked up by the 4th or 5th round.

Wildcard

I’m working under the assumption that a great deal of us are at least giving the Kante Rule a go this season, so that’s why my wildcard pick for Man Utd is the club captain himself, Michael Carrick. Man Utd without Carrick playing just look a little lost, he may be in the twilight days of his career but he adds that little something extra to Man Utd. Carrick one of the highest passing rates in the league, can provide some great assists and given a chance, he can crack one into the top corner as well.

Conclusion

There will be some early pickups for Man Utd players this season. Expect more clean sheets and a greater return from the more defensively minded midfielders. Lukaku will be gone in the first round with Rashford not long after. Man Utd offers us some potentially high scoring players across the board but more importantly, not too many of them which means the competition to pick them up will be fierce.