Pre-season tours are no longer enough. Post-season tours are on the rise.
Manchester United have announced plans for a two-game tour of the Far East to be completed just days after the end of the Premier League season.
The Red Devils will fly out for games in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong and will leave ther UK immediately after their last match of the season against Aston Villa.
Mail Sport understands that the club is being paid around £8million for the trip.
To kick off, they will face ASEAN All Stars in the 84,000-capacity Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on May 28.
On May 30, they will conclude the jaunt with a clash against Hong Kong in the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium.
However, that match would clash with the date for the local FA Cup final at the Mong Kok Stadium.
ProEvents are behind the tour, which is presented by Snapdragon.
United are obliged to release their players for international duty on May 31, with Nationas League and World Cup qualifiers set to be played in early June.
Bruno Fernandes' Portugal, for example, have a Nations League semi-final showdown with Germany on June 4.
They are not the first club to do this and nor will they be the last. Tottenham and Newcastle were criticised for playing a post-season clash on May 22 in Australia last year. On the flip side, 78,419 fans who wouldn't usually get to see them live turned up to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Gareth Southgate, then England's manager, had been concerned about it ahead of the European Championship. 'Financial Fair Play means clubs need to generate their own money, so we're in a bizarre world where there's more money in the game than ever before, and yet everyone is scrambling across federations and clubs to generate more money,' he said.
'The normal way of doing that is to play more games. So is that great news for us, in terms of preparation? No.'
Even Toon's Kieran Trippier admitted it was 'far from ideal'.
Manchester United wrote in a statement: 'The club last visited Kuala Lumpur in 2009, and Hong Kong in 2013, but the bond between United and the club’s millions of loyal fans across Asia remains as strong as ever.
'The fixtures in May provide a unique opportunity for the players and staff to connect directly with fans in Asia, and for the club to activate with its valued commercial partners in the region.'
Chief executive Omar Berrada said: 'We appreciate the amazing level of support that Manchester United enjoys around the world and this summer we are delighted to deliver a schedule that provides our fans in Asia, Scandinavia and the United States the opportunity to connect with the club and watch the men’s first team play live in local settings.
'Importantly, Tour fixtures drive significant additional revenue which help make the club stronger, allowing us to keep investing in success on the pitch.
'They also create unique opportunities for us to collaborate with our valued commercial partners, and to deepen relationships with our fans in regions such as Asia and the US.'
