All of Manchester United's players recovering from injury were at Carrington last week. All except Anthony Martial.
Martial's Instagram Stories indicated he was still on holiday even though he tore his hamstring in the final Premier League fixture of last season against Fulham. Erik ten Hag forecast a "long recovery".
Dean Henderson, Lisandro Martinez, Donny van de Beek, Antony and Kobbie Mainoo all checked in at Carrington to continue their rehabilitation before the first day of pre-season training.
Martinez has fully recovered from a fractured metatarsal and the 18-year-old Mainoo is in contention for inclusion in the pre-season tour squad that flies to New York next week. Both are in Oslo for today's friendly with Leeds United.
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Dean Henderson's absence after thigh surgery was always expected to be nearer the three-month mark. Antony was at least captured doing some light ball-work, albeit separate from teammates.
Martial was also not on the plane that left Manchester Airport on Tuesday afternoon. Everyone suspected he wouldn't be as Martial was absent from all of the training footage and imagery that United released.
So that will be a minimum seven-week lay-off before Martial's next possible involvement against Lyon in Edinburgh next Wednesday. Don't count on it.
United can't count on Martial. He missed 33 of their 62 games last season through six separate injuries. That he was not back in advance of the official return date is not a good look for a striker United are actively attempting to replace.
But this is in keeping with Martial. Whenever there is competition, he capitulates. It is telling the one season he broke the 20-goal barrier was when he was reassigned the number nine and his main competitor was Odion Ighalo.
Then Edinson Cavani was driven through the Carrington barriers and Martial surrendered. He tallied seven goals in 2020-21 and he has managed a meagre 17 for United in his last three campaigns.
Indulging Martial only served Ole Gunnar Solskjaer well in the short term. Martial scolded his former manager for the handling of his injuries, accusing him of "treachery". Some suspect Martial may have been on Solskjaer's mind when he referred to the "snowflakes" in the United dressing room back in April.
At a time when Martial needs to be winning over United supporters, he is antagonising them again. It is common practice for an injured player to head into Carrington weeks before pre-season and Martial's recoveries are so inordinate this one could continue beyond the clocks going back.
For his last recovery, Martial participated in full training for four weeks and was not considered for selection. If Martial is ever jettisoned, he should be packaged in a box tagged 'handle with care'.
United must also despair at Van de Beek. He did at least drive into the first-team car park at Carrington at the start of July but he too is not in Norway.
Van de Beek expressed his delight at being involved in team training last week yet this week he is (still?) following an individual programme as he nears a return from a knee injury sustained over seven months ago.
Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro or Scott McTominay are not back at United yet. This is not the first time opportunity knocks for Van de Beek and he is knocked out.
When Paul Pogba twinged his hamstring in February 2021, Van de Beek also got injured. He was out for a month. Van de Beek's card was marked when he sought the comfort zone of Everton two years ago and when he belatedly travelled down the East Lancs Road, he succumbed to injury again. He did not start again for Frank Lampard after March 13.
You can never be sure with the return date of absent players at this time of year, either. Last July, Brandon Williams missed the tour of Thailand and Australia with a "small problem". He was not fit again until December.
United said Phil Jones was "following a specialist pre-season programme, as was the case last summer, to ensure he is best prepared for the campaign ahead". Jones lasted 20 minutes in Ten Hag's first training session and he never trained with United again.
History suggests there is every chance Martial and Van de Beek's absences could also be prolonged. That is a blow only for United's coffers.
Martial is at least at Carrington now when others aren't.
