Jose Mourinho hailed his new £35m signing Nemanja Matic as a 'genius' after the Serbian played his first 45 minutes for the club in the 2-1 friendly victory over Sampdoria.
Matic impressed in the first half as he slotted in to a 3-4-2-1 formation that was very similar to the system employed by Antonio Conte at Chelsea last season.
It was Matic's first appearance of pre-season having previously trained alone at Chelsea and been left behind from the club's pre-season tour.
Matic, who will likely cost United up to £40m including add-ons, formerly played under Mourinho at Chelsea and his manager said on Wednesday night that the midfielder will quickly get up to speed due to his natural football intelligence.