Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits he did not expect such an intense battle for a place in the Manchester United side, but is adamant he will work hard to keep his place next season.

The creative midfielder arrived from Borussia Dortmund for £26m last summer, but injury and poor form hampered his first few months at Old Trafford.

But Jose Mourinho slowly began to hand him more appearances and the Armenian started to show why the club splashed the cash with a series of impressive displays – most notably in the Europa League.

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Mkhitaryan scored United’s second goal in the Europa League final, a win which guarantees their place in the Champions League next season.

But Mourinho is expected to go on a summer spending spree and the 28-year-old’s place in the side could be in doubt.

However, he has promised he will be even better next season as United go in search of more silverware.

“I was thinking that I would be here as a starting line-up player but when I arrived I saw that there were 25 players fighting for their place and I understood that it wasn’t going to be easy,” he admitted.

“I had a bad game against Manchester City but that is in the past so I kept working.

“Now I understand why I have got my chance and I will keep it, I will hold it, because it is very important for me to play, to be a part of Manchester United.”

Jurgen Klopp believes pre-season is a vital time to grow team morale ahead of the new Premier League season for Liverpool.

The Reds are set to embark on their first campaign back in the Champions League after a fourth-placed finish last season, and Klopp is set to splash the cash to build a squad capable of competing.

Mohamed Salah has already arrived through the door for a club record £36.8m from Roma, and they are supposedly chasing Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

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Liverpool’s pre-season programme takes them to Hong Kong, Germany and the Republic of Ireland and Klopp hopes to use that time away from home to help players bed in – both on and off the pitch.

“That’s why you go to training camps, usually, because they are then all together 24 hours [a day]; having breakfast, lunch and dinner together, spare time together and all that stuff,” he said.

“It’s very important. You can ask each new player who came in last year how he felt on his first day and the day after the camp or day after pre-season, that’s a very decisive period.

“The closer you can get in this period, the better it is.”

Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo revealed he was injured when he saved three penalties on Wednesday to send Chile through to the Confederations Cup final.

The South American side will play World Cup winners Germany in the final on Sunday and need their star keeper back to full fitness.

When the game finished 0-0 after extra time, Bravo proved his worth as captain of his national side, saving spot kicks from Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and Nani.

The 34-year-old explained he had worked hard and studied his opponent, saying luck had nothing to do with his heroic performance.

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He said: “I was injured and didn’t play at my normal pace, but I normally take things calmly and this was a very special game for us.

“We were able to reach the final which is very important for us, we’re completing a very successful cycle.

“I think we played with our heads, we were quite tired at the end but playing with our heads as well as our hearts – I knew what I had to do.

“Of course, we’re very happy because we’ve been able to stop the European champions.

“The secret, I think, is that we never stop believing in ourselves and we want to do everything we can to win – we still have one more game to win.”

Former Manchester United star Phil Neville is looking forward to seeing new faces arrive at Old Trafford over the coming months.

Neville hopes that United can build a squad that can compete for the Premier League title.

Mourinho won the League Cup and Europa League in his first season at the club and Neville would like to see United compete at the top of the league next season.

“I’m looking forward to it” Neville said “I think it was a brilliant season last year and it finished well with the Europa League.

“Now we’re looking to see who Jose signs because, if you look at the top six clubs, I think they will all strengthen. United have to strengthen and it’ll be interesting to see which team strengthens the most.

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“Now, every time I pick up a paper, another player is linked with United but I’m sure Jose will bring success, like he did last season, and ultimately, hopefully, bring the title back to Manchester.

“If you look at the drawn games at Old Trafford last season and convert maybe 90 per cent of those into wins, then United would have been challenging for the title. If they can do that this year, then I think the title will come back to Manchester.

“I’m optimistic,” Neville continued. “United are heading in the right direction and the confidence the manager and his squad got from winning the EFL Cup and Europa League can be taken into the Champions League and the league next year.

“It’s going to be a difficult season, as everyone else is spending money and improving. United are going to have to improve as well because they didn’t finish in the top four last season. Even that is a big ask, but I think Jose will want to win the Premier League. That’s the big one. He won’t settle for anything less.”

With rumours swirling that Liverpool are pursuing Virgil van Dijk as their number one centre-back target this summer, competition to line-up alongside the possible marquee signing will be fierce.

Liverpool’s centre-halves didn’t cover themselves in glory last season as the Reds shipped 42 goals, the highest number in the top four.

But as Jurgen Klopp prepares to bolster his defence, we take a look at who is vying for a place come day one of the Premier League.

Joel Matip

The Cameroonian was brought to Anfield on a free transfer from Schalke and quickly established himself in the starting line-up.

But the elegant 25-year-old’s season was blighted by injuries, causing him to miss matches at crucial times of the season.

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His absence – from the start of December to end of January – proved costly as Liverpool’s form tailed off alarmingly as they were dumped out of both domestic cups and fell off the Premier League pace.

When fit, Matip’s defensive abilities speak for themselves. But Klopp may want to avoid gambling on a player who picks up consistent injuries.

Dejan Lovren

A dreadful first campaign at Anfield by the Croat was followed up by a promising second as he established himself in the first team.

But the former Southampton man took a real step back in 2016/17 with an erratic season, culminating in a plethora of errors.

Lovren had previously formed a solid partnership with Mamadou Sakho in 2016 but never looked comfortable alongside Ragnar Klavan when Matip faced a spell on the sidelines.

On his day, Lovren has proved to be a colossal defender, having produced some fine displays early in the season.

But the defender has been too error-prone and that could see him playing second fiddle.

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Ragner Klavan

The 31-year-old Estonian was snapped up by Klopp for little over £4 million as a backup choice for Matip and Lovren.

When given his chance to shine after spells on the sideline from both Matip and Lovren, Klaven struggled to make a real impact.

The former Augsburg centre half endured an inconsistent run of form between December and January, resulting in bit part appearances towards the end of the season.

The Estonian showed glimpses of promise in his maiden season in English football but will have to do much more to shove his way into Klopp’s back-four plans.

Burnley will have lower profits than the last time they were in the Premier League according to chairman Mike Garlick but he insists the Clarets will be much-improved for their second successive season in the top flight.

Strong home form helped Burnley to avoid relegation, although a late-season slump saw them finish 16^th in the table.

So far this summer they have not brought in any new players, while Joey Barton and Michael Kightly are among those to have been released.

But Garlick insists Burnley will be investing so they are stronger next season than they were on their return to the league.

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He said: “Our major objective when the window closes up for this season is that when that happens we’ve got to be stronger than we are sat here today,” he said.

“Will that be hard work? Yes. Will we able to achieve it? I believe we can.

“I think it’s fair to say going forward we will spend more on transfer fees in the coming season than we did last. And player wages aren’t going down.

“There’s a few factors we have to take into account. The profits will be very healthy. They will actually be a little shade lower than they were last time in the Premier League.

“Why is that? First of all we’ve spent £32million on players this time around rather than £12million last time. All the improvements we’ve put into the training ground and stadium kicked in in the last financial year, not the time we were in the Premier League before. Players’ wages have gone up. You add all those things together, yes, still very profitable but a tiny, tiny bit below last time.”

Tottenham legend Vinny Samways is adamant that Mauricio Pochettino’s young side can go from strength to strength next season, after proving they are as good as any other in England.

Samways, 48, knows just what it takes to be a young player at Spurs having risen through the academy ranks before making 247 appearances between 1987 and 1994 for the North Londoners.

The Lilywhites recorded their highest-ever Premier League finish last season, coming second behind champions Chelsea, and Samways sees no reason why they cannot go one better next year.

Pochettino’s side will also be playing at Wembley while work is finished at their new White Hart Lane home, and Samways is sure this can be a special season for his former club.

“It’s fantastic here and I think they’ve got the nucleus of a young squad that’s super-talented,” said Samways, who also played for Everton, Wolves, Birmingham City, and Walsall in English football.

“Hopefully now they can push on to the next level because they’ve proven they’re as good as any team in the country and that they can sustain a title challenge.

“Hopefully this time next year or perhaps a little way down the line, they’ll have gone one better than this year and won the league.”

The likes of Matt Phillips and Jake Livermore may have grabbed most of the Baggies headlines last season, but West Bromwich Albion would’ve been a lot worse off without their feisty full-back Craig Dawson.

Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley have been strong in the Albion backline but nobody epitomises the trademark Pulis steel like Dawson.

The 27-year-old former Rochdale man didn’t miss a single league game in 2015/16 and only sat out two in 2016/17, both through suspension.

The combative defender has come a long way since taking a job as a glass collector after being rejected by Bolton Wanderers at the age of 16.

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Whilst turning out for his local side he was spotted by Bernard Manning Jnr, the then chairman of non-league side Radcliffe Borough, and hasn’t looked back since.

A typical Pulis defender, Dawson is from the old school of stop attacks first, play out later – and that philosophy helped him to excel centrally while filling in for Jonny Evans.

Dawson’s aerial presence is also useful in attack, his two headed goals against Arsenal in March gave Albion one of the highlights of their season, a 3-1 victory at The Hawthorns.

He may have gone under the radar for praise by many but his manager always had faith and clearly values Dawson’s contribution.

“Dawson has impressed me all season, I pick him every week,” said Albion’s head coach.

“When he plays right-back as well he does fantastically well for the team, he also gives us that extra height that we need at times.

“Obviously we are good at set-plays because we spend a lot of time working on them but we have to defend those situations and Craig helps us in that respect.

“He gives us another very good player attacking-wise and defensively alongside the two centre-halves.”

Former Southampton goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski has backed transfer target Jan Bednarek to become a big hit at St Mary’s as he closes in on a move to the Premier League.

The 21-year-old defender is reportedly close to joining the Saints for €6 million from Lech Poznan after flying in for a medical following Poland’s exit from the European U21 Championships.

He would become the most expensive export from the Polish league ever but faces a fight to become a Premier League regular – with Maya Yoshida and Dale Stephens the club’s first-choice centre-back pairing late last year, and Virgil van Dijk ready to return from injury.

But Van Dijk’s future is up in the air with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City all reportedly keen to sign him this summer – despite Southampton’s reluctance to sell.

Bednarek could become a key player very quickly then, and Bialkowski, who played 42 times for the Saints between 2006-2012, is adamant his international teammate can become a success under new boss Mauricio Pellegrino.

“For me, Bednarek is second best defender in Polish league, behind Michal Pazdan [Legia Warsaw defender],” Bialkowski said.

“As a goalkeeper I’d like to play with player like him, because you can trust him and he’s also good in the air.”

The initial collision with his countryman Pablo Zabaleta looked innocuous, so much so that Roberto Pereyra headed straight back onto the pitch at the Etihad Stadium after a brief consultation with the Watford physio.

But on the half-hour mark of December’s trip to Manchester City, the 26-year-old’s knee injury proved too painful for him to bear and he was forced into an early exit – the problem would eventually be diagnosed as a torn meniscus and Pereyra missed the remainder of the season.

On December 20, six days after his last appearance in a Watford shirt, the Argentine went under the knife of top surgeon Dr Ramon Cugat and a promising start to life at Vicarage Road was cruelly put on ice.

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There have been plenty of twists and turns in Pereyra’s career so far and he has played second fiddle on many occasion but in Hertfordshire, he was finally handed the opportunity to be the main man.

Before he arrived as Watford’s club-record signing for a reported fee of £13 million last August, the dynamic midfielder began his career with Argentinian giants River Plate but departed the club in 2011 after Los Millonarios suffered their first-ever relegation from the top flight.

The Pozzo family – the Hornets’ current owners – paid £1m to bring Pereyra to Udinese and he impressed sufficiently enough that Juventus eventually came calling for his services, shelling out €14 million in June 2015 after a season-long loan deal, for which they paid €1.5 million.

During the 2014-15 season, he operated as back-up to a stellar midfield containing Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio but still managed to make 52 appearances as Juventus won a league and cup double, as well as making the Champions League final.

He was also part of Argentina’s 2015 Copa America-winning side – he may only have made two substitute appearances during the tournament but rubbing shoulders with Lionel Messi and co can hardly have been a bad thing.

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In Italy, Pereyra played in every midfield position but at Watford, he is expected to provide an offensive spark, something he made a fine fist of doing in his first 13 appearances in a yellow shirt.

He notched his first goal against Arsenal in August and curled home a spectacular winner as the Hornets bested Leicester City 2-1 in November.

Pereyra’s rehabilitation has reportedly progressed well and when next season begins, the former Juve utility man will be champing at the bit to fully step into the spotlight.