José Mourinho’s preparations for Manchester United’s new season have been further disrupted by Anthony Martial flying home from the US tour to attend the birth of his child.

Martial’s departure seems to have taken the club by surprise as he was listed on United’s website on Wednesday as available for their evening match with Milan. The Frenchman trained with United’s squad at their UCLA training base in Los Angeles on Tuesday then departed some time afterwards.

Mourinho had previously named Martial as an almost certain starter for the Premier League season opener against Leicester City at Old Trafford on 10 August. Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard are all on an extended post-World Cup break so will not be match-fit for the fixture.

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Martial wants to leave United and Mourinho has reluctantly accepted he can be sold – preferably to an overseas club. Yet his absence from the tour – United play Milan in LA at 8pm local time on Wednesday in their third game of the trip – is another blow for Mourinho.

Antonio Valencia was also forced to fly back from the tour with a torn calf. Valencia had captained United in the draws with Club America and San Jose Earthquakes and is expected to fulfil the role again in the coming campaign. Nemanja Matic is struggling for match fitness, too, after joining the squad late because of his own post‑World Cup break.

Mourinho has branded pre-season as “very bad” because of the number of players on holidays after Russia 2018. The manager has been in noticeably sombre spirits since United arrived in the US 10 days ago.

Looking ahead, United are considering travelling east for their pre‑season tour next summer in a move that may concern Mourinho, whose preference is to use the US west coast to prepare for a new campaign.

José Mourinho refuses to be drawn on Manchester United’s title chances Read more

United have again based themselves in the US this summer, the fourth time in five years they have travelled to the States ahead of the new season. Under Mourinho’s predecessor, Louis van Gaal, United did so twice, while this summer is a second consecutive year they have done so under the Portuguese. When Mourinho took over from Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2016 he inherited a schedule that took United to China in what proved an unhappy tour. The club’s proposed derby with Manchester City, the first overseas staging of the fixture, was called off because of concerns regarding the pitch at Beijing’s National Stadium.

Mourinho was particularly nonplussed by the experience, confirming his preference for preparing his players on the west coast as he has done when in charge of Chelsea (twice), Internazionale and Real Madrid. Despite the manager’s stance Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, is considering what would be a lucrative trip to the east during the summer of 2019.

In 2013 David Moyes, United’s manager at the time, took his squad to Thailand, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong in what was a near three-week tour. It is understood all of these locations plus Malaysia and China are potential destinations. How Mourinho would react to the club going against his wishes is unclear, though it would be no surprise if the 55-year-old voiced disquiet. United’s general policy is to back the manager regarding his choice of location in the summer.

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Meanwhile Marcos Rojo’s future is in the balance, with the centre-back expected to hold talks with the club soon. Mourinho wants to sell at least one centre-back to clear the way for the arrival of a new one, with Leicester City’s Harry Maguire a target. Rojo, who is not in LA because of a post‑World Cup break, could be that man although it is understood the Argentinian is reluctant to leave Old Trafford.

The England defender Chris Smalling said: “This club is always linked to centre-backs. But I’m happy and when I’m fit I play, so I just want to carry on from last season and right now the shirt’s mine and I intend to keep it. I just want to follow on from the number of games I played last season, keep kicking on and helping the team, just making us play better together as a team and hopefully win some trophies, that’s my main aim.”