May edition of Inside United is out now

An exclusive interview with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tim Fosu-Mensah tops the bill, with the two young defenders reminiscing about their south London days, when the pair first met at Crystal Palace three seasons ago.

Tim, who already had 20-odd first-team United appearances to his name at the time, went on loan to Palace at the start of the 2017/18 campaign.

It turned out to be the season that homegrown Academy prospect Wan-Bissaka made his breakthrough with the Eagles, and the two discuss the day Aaron made his first-team debut, against Harry Kane et al, with Tim alongside him.

"He was centre-back, I was right-back. That's when it all started," remembers Wan-Bissaka.

"Against Spurs," says Tim. "I remember, we had a lot of injuries and Aaron started. I think we did well in this game, but we conceded a [late] goal. But I was proud of him, he did very well."

The friends also discuss Wan-Bissaka's next senior game – that memorable 3-2 defeat to United at Selhurst Park, which Nemanja Matic won with a sensational late volley – and talk about continuing their friendship when Aaron moved to Manchester (they also reveal, among other details, their personal idols, name-checking a couple of legends).

Elsewhere in the magazine we retrace the steps of Odion Ighalo on his amazing journey from his footballing beginnings back home in Nigeria to fulfilling his dream of playing in the red of United (and scoring belters), via stops in Norway, Italy, Spain, England and China.

Sergio Romero, meanwhile, offers some sage words of wisdom collected during his long career in an exclusive interview in which he also talks about the goalkeeping unit at United, explaining how he, David De Gea and Lee Grant all look out for each other and push one another for the good of the team.

Juan Mata talks about his footballing years in Spain in an excerpt from the popular UTD Podcast series, while Eric Bailly describes the long process of coming back from injury he went through before his successful return to the pitch in the weeks before football's suspension.

There is loads more to read including a feature on the Reds matches you might not know about and won't see in the official record books (Watney Cup, anyone?), a look at the many positives that had been thrown up by the 2019/20 season up to its current pause, and an interview with United-supporting cricket great Michael Atherton (who tells us about his family connection to the Busby era).

The May edition of Inside United is on general sale now.