Manchester United - 26/27 Draft FPL Pre-Season Thoughts
Written 17th July 2026 · Everything here very much subject to change, subscribe to the podcast/YouTube channel for all the latest.
This blog is part of Draft FC's Team-by-Team 2026/27 early pre-season series — see all 20 previews in one place here
Carrick's calm after the chaos
What a strange season that turned into at Old Trafford. Amorim sacked in January with everything drifting, Michael Carrick installed as the interim nobody was excited about and then 11 wins from 16, 3rd place, Champions League football and the permanent job through 2028. Fair play to him.
The structural change matters for our purposes: Carrick plays a steady 4-2-3-1 - he used it in 112 of his 136 games at Middlesbrough - and that firmly ends the back-three era. Wing-backs revert to orthodox full-backs, a genuine double pivot appears, and the whole side looked calmer for it down the stretch. Looking at last year's stats over the full-season blends 2 completely different teams. The Carrick run-in is the truer signal and that means last season's totals probably under-rate the front 4. That's a rare thing to be able to say - usually the warning runs the other way.
Bruno, the model's number 1
Our model has Bruno Fernandes as the highest-projected player in the league for 2026/27. Not Haaland. Bruno, at 257 FPL points. The underlying case is easy to make: 235 points, 9 goals, 24 assists, 12 hauls and only 8 blanks all season, with penalties, free-kicks and corners all in his pocket. For the consistency-minded among us, that blank rate is remarkable - a premium asset who fails to return roughly once every 5 weeks is about as close to a weekly banker as this game allows.
One honest caveat before anyone spends the first overall pick on him. Bruno was the biggest assist over-performer in the league last season, 24 assists from roughly 12.3 expected. Assist totals built that far above the underlying numbers tend to come back down, however good the player is. Analysing some of those assists towards the end of the season is impossible when the narrative got so loud, the team was more or less going all out to help him get the record.
One of my dark horses for this season
Šeško grew into his debut season - 11 goals in 1,635 minutes - and with Højlund sold to Napoli the number 9 spot gets closer to being his. I'm going in high on him this year and I'm quite comfortable saying so. The minutes should jump, the team should be improving around him and I think there's another level in there. His front half of the season saw xGI/90 of around 0.34, fine but nothing amazing, which leapt to 0.73 xGI/90 in the back half. His main threat is from fellow attackers Cunha & Mbeumo, who are more nailed overall and Carrick has deployed both of them up front.
Mbeumo is another solid pick-up on draft day summer. 148 points felt underwhelming after the big move, but he actually underperformed his xGI by about 3 while the underlying numbers rose in the second half of the season. Year 1 at a new club carries a settling-in tax and 14 attacking returns was almost exactly what I predicted for him this time last year (I predicted neither he nor Cunha would break 15). Now settled, with corners in his locker, I'd back him to get more in year 2 (closer to 20 attacking returns overall).
Cunha is the opposite profile and it's worth being clear-eyed: nailed, steady, 143 points - and not a single haul all season, with a best week of 9 points. Very useful in head-to-head, a safe pair of hands every other week.
A new midfield
As part of replacing Casemiro and the injured (and out of form) Ugarte, Man United have got some early business concluded with Andrey Santos in for £48m from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans in for £35m from Aston Villa. That could well be a double-pivot we see a fair amount of this season, though Kobbie Mainoo will no doubt have something to say about that. I rate Mainoo as a player, but I don't think he's necessarily the best fit for this team (a familiar issue for Carrington graduates). Tielemans for that money is a very safe pair of hands, though long-time Draft FC listeners will know I've never been his biggest fan. He's definitely more of a loss to Villa, than he is a gain for United in my opinion. As for Draft FPL, I don't think either will be on my board unless I can unearth some data that suggests Santos is going to be a defcon king, but the sample size is small. The fact Tielemans and Mainoo may share minutes is no good to me on draft day.
The opening run
Very nice: Hull away, Ipswich at home, Everton away - 3 straight favourable games and the longest unbroken soft run in the league - before the Manchester derby arrives early in GW4, then Fulham away and Spurs at home. The United premiums are set-and-forget from day 1 and it goes a step further, this is the opening run that makes the United fringe players very draftable. Mainoo and the defenders all worth a late pick-up on draft day to stock up for those nice fixtures.
Early verdict
From a United perspective, seeing the work being done early to replace Casemiro is good and overall I'm positive and like the work Carrick has done. The run-in wasn't a fluke, the spine is settled and the fantasy assets are there: Bruno in the top 2, Šeško high, Mbeumo high, Cunha high and the kindest opening schedule in the league.
Stay shook,
Draft FC Mitch
Where our full rankings live
As I said, these previews are just some of my notes and early thoughts, my complete top 240 rankings live within our members area. The Top 20 reveal stays free so keep your eyes peeled for that episode in early August. The rest though, plus all our other member benefits, sit inside a Draft FC membership and if you want to find out more about that, head here.
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