have been boosted by the return of Anthony Martial to full training following two months on the sidelines.
The Frenchman tore a tendon in his hamstring in the penultimate game of last season.
That injury ruled him out of the final defeat to and summed up a difficult campaign for the striker, who was ravaged by injury.
Though is fond of Martial, he can’t rely on the Frenchman because of his dire injury record.
That’s why the club are looking into a deal to sign Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund, while Frankfurt’s Kolo Mauni is another option.
But, with a deal for a striker progressing slowly and unlikely to be done in time for the first game of the season, United could do with the option of Martial.
And, though he’ll need a fortnight to get back up to speed, Martial was able to fully participate in today’s session with the Red Devils in California.
‘Today he was in the team training, so that is really hopeful,’ said Ten Hag.
‘And, yeah, of course, when you have player in a squad you expect that he is available and then the players have to take the responsibility to be available.
‘But when he’s not I have to deal with the situation and we show that we also then can be successful without that striker. But yeah, of course, it’s more easy when you have that striker in your team because I think every club who wins big trophies has scoring abilities in that team.’
Martial has been linked with an exit given United’s need to raise funds.
But Ten Hag says he wants to keep the Frenchman.
‘We need a good squad and Anthony Martial is a brilliant football player and so he will help us,’ said the Dutchman.
‘He scored goals and also in other areas of football like pressing, in possession, combinations, he’s a great player and, yeah, let’s hope he will be fit and he stays fit.’
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