Carrick hints Baleba and Shaw could return for United's trip to Fulham

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has offered cautious optimism over the fitness of Carlos Baleba and Luke Shaw ahead of the club’s Premier League fixture at Fulham on September 20, while winger Amad is not expected back until October.

Baleba, 22, has been sidelined since sustaining an ankle ligament injury during pre-season with former club Brighton and has yet to make his debut for United. The midfielder returned to training this week and was present at Old Trafford for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Brighton, raising the prospect of a first appearance at Craven Cottage — most likely from the bench given he has not featured in a competitive match since Brighton’s final-day meeting with United last season.

Shaw, 31, has missed three matches across all competitions with a thigh injury after starting the opening three fixtures of the season. His last appearance came in the 2-2 draw with Everton, where he assisted the goal Benjamin Sesko scored before being substituted shortly before Ainsley Maitland-Niles equalised at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Carrick addressed both players’ availability on Friday: “There’s a kind of a chance on both of them, really. Not totally 100% yet, but there’s half a chance, yeah. It is really short-term, to be honest, but it’s just working towards the game, so we’ll see how he is come the weekend.”

Amad’s return is further away. The Ivorian winger sustained an ankle injury in the final week of pre-season and was not called up by Ivory Coast for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this month. Carrick said on Tuesday that Amad was “not quite close, in terms of days,” with a potential return pencilled in for the home fixture against Tottenham Hotspur on October 10.

Midfielder Manuel Ugarte will also spend the upcoming international break rehabilitating at Carrington rather than joining his national team.