Carrick Hails New Arrivals

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick thinks that new signings Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia have already shown enough to demonstrate that they will enjoy successful careers at the club, after both players have turned in impressive displays in pre-season.

Owen bagged four goals in five games during the tour of Asia, while Valencia, who didn’t travel to the Far East, scored on his debut in the Audi Cup against Boca Juniors and also enjoyed a fine outing against Bayern Munich.

“Michael’s already done really well,” Carrick told the club’s official website.

“He’s a top player and I’m sure he’ll score lots of goals for us. Antonio joined us a little later for training so I’ve only seen a bit of him so far, but he’s already shown what great qualities he has and I’m sure he’ll be a huge success.”

United now face Valencia on Wednesday night at Old Trafford in their final pre-season outing before Saturday’s season-opening Community Shield game against Chelsea at Wembley, and Carrick is looking forward to facing the Spanish side.

“It will allow us to gauge where we’re at and look at the things that need tweaking or working on and there’s no better place to do that than Old Trafford,” he added.

“Valencia are a top side and I’m sure it’ll be an entertaining match.”