Rooney, De Gea part of Manchester United's squad to China

Forward Wayne Rooney and goalkeeper David De Gea have been kept in the 25-member Manchester United football squad which will travel to China for a pre-season tour.

New signings Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mikhitaryan are both named in the travelling party. England's Marcus Rashford and Chris Smalling are also in the list.

Luke Shaw, who is fit after an injury layoff is included, as are Will Keane and Andreas Pereira who scored the goals in the 2-0 win at Wigan on Saturday.

Young defender Axel Tuanzebe, who coach Jose Mourinho spoke about enthusiastically after the game, has also made the pre-season trip.

United will lock horns with Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on Friday and then play against Manchester City in Beijing on Monday.

Rashford said he is looking forward to his first senior tour having only broken into the Red Devils squad for the first time last February. He however, became an United regular and also earned his England call up a few months later.

"It means a lot to be going," Rashford told manutd.com on Tuesday. "It's an opportunity to show the manager what you've got and you have to take the opportunity when it comes.

"It would be a massive experience especially with the players that could be going as well. I've got a lot I can learn from them."

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the French duo of Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial have been given time to recover from their exertions at Euro 2016.

--IANS

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