Erik ten Hag forced to make personnel change during Man Utd's pre-season tour

Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe has left the club's pre-season tour of Asia and Australia due to a personal issue.

The former England youth international, 24, did not train with his teammates on Monday and missed United's impressive 4-0 victory against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool on Tuesday evening. He will be replaced in the squad by teenage centre-back Will Fish.

"Axel returned back to Manchester this morning to deal with a small personal issue," confirmed a United spokesperson on Wednesday morning. Tuanzebe spent last season on loan at Premier League side Aston Villa and Italian giants Napoli, playing 11 games in total.

The centre-back, who was part of the United squad that won the Europa League in 2017, has one year left on his contract with the option of a further 12 months. He's previously been named United's Young Player of the Year and Reserve Team Player of the Year.

Tuanzebe has never nailed down a regular role in United's first team, making 37 senior appearances to date. He's predominately a centre-back but has previously played at right-back, once captaining the side in an EFL Cup game against Rochdale in September 2019.

Fish, meanwhile, has played once for United's first team and spent time on loan at Stockport County in the National League last season. He signed a new long-term contract with the club in June and has been capped by England at U17, U18 and U19 levels.

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Fish will link up with the United squad in Australia. Ten Hag's side take on A-League outfit Melbourne Victory at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. The MCG can hold more than 100,000 spectators, making it one of the biggest cricket grounds in the world.

The Red Devils also have friendlies against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in Australia before heading to Norway for their final game of pre-season against Atletico Madrid. Their Premier League campaign gets underway against Brighton at Old Trafford on August 7.

United produced a superb display against Liverpool on Tuesday with Jadon Sancho, Fred, Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellistri all finding the back of the net. That was Ten Hag's first game in charge since being unveiled as the club's new manager in May.

"We are satisfied today because I think there was a team with great spirit," Ten Hag told United's website. "We know we are just starting and when things begin to click like the press... we know we made some mistakes in pressing and conceded some chances but also we created a lot and I think our team played bravely.

"They were proactive and we had to work really hard to get out of some mistakes. Of course, we are happy with the first game... it was not only the result. I know we have good players but we have to play as a team. We started the first game well so I am happy."

Ten Hag also believes there's room for improvement. "Of course it will take time, believe me I have seen a lot of mistakes but I will not say [what they were]," he added.

"But to be honest, Liverpool played with three teams and they were not at their strongest, so we are not overestimating them [our players]. We saw some really good things. What you see is we have a lot of creativity and speed in the front and we have potential."