James Garner played all 90 minutes in Manchester United friendly

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Christian Eriksen scoring in Manchester United’s behind closed doors friendly against Wrexham was the big news to come from the game.

United won the match at Carrington 4-1, with new signing Lisandro Martinez also featuring in the match shortly after his signing was announced.

Another development was just as noteworthy. The Mail report Erik ten Hag selected James Garner to play all 90 minutes.

Garner and Raphael Varane were the only two players named in the match report who featured the entire game.

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Garner played all 90 minutes

Both Raphael Varane and James Garner missed time on the club’s pre-season tour due to injury.

Varane only featured in two of the four games, while Garner only featured as a substitute in the final match after missing the first three games as injury.

Ten Hag’s decision to play Garner for all 90 minutes of this friendly game shows he is very interested in seeing what the midfielder is capable of, and wants to get him up to full fitness ahead of the season.

Garner’s role this season is unclear, but the longer United’s unsuccessful pursuit of Frenkie de Jong drags on, the better for him.

Ten Hag has said he is prepared to develop United’s existing talent if he needs to, and Garner is a promising player who needs the right guidance to take the next leap forward in his career.

Earlier this week, Garner said he is open-minded over his future, telling the Independent: “For me now because I’ve played two seasons back-to-back, where I’ve been playing games non-stop, I don’t really want to stop that.

“I want to play week in, week out. That is of course what I want to do. I want to play for United, of course that’s obviously my aim.

“But I feel like if I’m not going to be playing as regularly as I would like to then I’m definitely open to going back on loan to a Premier League side.”

After a frustrating pre-season tour, Garner will have been delighted to get a full run out against Wrexham to show Erik ten Hag what he can do. That’s all he can ask for.

This will set him up nicely for more chances in one of United’s two pre-season games against Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano this weekend, where he will have one more chance to try and ensure he makes United’s matchday squad for the opening game against Brighton on August 7.