Taylor in United squad for Astana trip

The 19-year-old central defender recently resumed playing after receiving cancer treatment and he made his comeback at Under-23 level in the win over Swansea City last month. He also came off the bench for Neil Wood’s team in the 3-0 victory over Sunderland at Old Trafford last Friday.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is taking a youthful squad for the trip to Nur-Sultan, with his team already safely qualified for the knockout stages and Taylor is understandably thrilled to have received the call.

“Obviously, Ole has given quite a few of us the opportunity to travel with the team and, hopefully, a few of us will get a game,” he told us. 

“The position I was in this time last year, I was in my first few weeks where I had chemotherapy, I wouldn’t have thought, a year on, I’d be travelling with the first team.

“It doesn’t matter what the environment is like, just being out there is massive. It’s been a dream since I can remember ever kicking a ball – being a Manchester United first-team player.”

Taylor and the rest of the United players in Kazakhstan will train at 14:00 GMT on Wednesday, while Ole could give a further update on the squad during his pre-match press conference which begins at 13:30 GMT.

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