Manchester United new boy stuns teammates after topping every pre-season fitness test

Bengaluru, July 10: Manchester United had a brilliant start under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer only before it faded it away at the end of the campaign. Several fans blamed the drop in execution due to fitness issues.

The Norway coach did not catch up with the squad for a prolonged period and many assume that it was the reason behind the team bending down at the end of the campaign, not keeping up with the tempo of the high pressing attacking football.

However, to work on that the Red Devils are gearing up for the pre-season and they are currently in Australia improving their fitness. With so many athletic players in the squad, the competition among the team was expected to be fairly competitive but as per latest reports, stunning everyone, Manchester United's new boy Daniel James has overcome everyone in the side, topping every fitness test.

The Wales international is certainly intent on making an immediate impression at Manchester United after sealing his £18million switch from Swansea this summer. Before reporting to pre-season training with United, James took it upon himself to work on his fitness with a specialist team in Dubai. And the winger has been reaping the rewards as he reportedly has topped all the initial pre-season fitness tests.

James topped the club on short and long sprints, as well as maxing out the bleep test.

As per the Sun, an Old Trafford source said: "The word from Carrington is very encouraging on young James. He is clearly ahead of the game. He has topped all the early fitness charts. Ole was impressed with seeing him doing his own work.

"He came out top in the sprints, even the short ones, by a good margin of five or so yards. He did one fifty metre sprint that left team-mates five metres behind him and also maxing out the bleep test."

The 21-year-old is expected to play more of a squad role but apparently, the winger may now force himself into the first-team set-up quicker than expected after impressing his manager and team-mates in pre-season.

Plenty of United fans feel very strongly that their squad needs to be more active and certainly James has made a lasting impression with his fitness and effort, settling an example for the rest of the squad which is something that Solskjaer made a point about near the back end of last season.

James could make his United debut when the Red Devils begin their pre-season fixtures with a clash against Perth Glory on Saturday.