Nemanja Matic insists training on Christmas Day is ‘no problem’ for United players and is just ‘part of being a footballer in this country’.
English teams training on December 25 is nothing new given that there are always games on Boxing Day and United welcome Huddersfield to Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has decided against altering the plans of his predecessor, Jose Mourinho, when it comes to United’s preparations for the visit of David Wagner’s side.
The players were given the day off on Christmas Eve and will get some time with their families before training on Christmas Day – which will be a new experience for Fred and Diogo Dalot following their summer moves.
But, having spent a number of Christmases in England since joining Chelsea in 2009, it is nothing new for Matic.
“As players we are used to it. It’s nice to see each other and then afterwards we will see our family. It’s no problem. It’s part of being a footballer in this country,” he told manutd.com.
A number of players, including Dalot and Marcos Rojo, have flown their families in to spend Christmas together and Solskjaer has also followed suit.
United’s interim manager had been due to spend the holidays with his parents in his homeland before he got the call from Ed Woodward a week ago as he revealed to Match of the Day after the 5-1 win against Cardiff.
“I don’t know if my Mum or Dad thinks that,” Solskjaer laughed when it was suggested he would have an ‘even better Christmas’.
“Because I was going to celebrate Christmas at theirs! But my family’s coming over tomorrow [Sunday], so can’t wait.”