Postseason friendlies are not a common occurrence but these are obviously uncommon times at Manchester United. The club are embarking on a postseason tour of Asia that is set to earn them an estimated €10 million ($12.7m). They could use the extra cash, because United have officially recorded financial losses of more than £300m over the past three years. And thus a match against the ASEAN All-Stars, a squad composed of various Southeast Asian internationals, as well as various stars from leagues in this specific region, is on.
Maybank Challenge Cup FYIs
Manchester United vs ASEAN All-Stars
Format: Postseason Friendly
Kickoff: Wed May 28, 1:45pm BST (8:45pm local time)
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Venue: Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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United will take on the Hong Kong National Team in the other friendly that’s part of this tour, on Friday night. And while yes, this tour will provide an injection of cash into the club, and indeed they do need it, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s claim last year remains ridiculous.
Ratcliffe claimed the club would have run out of money by Christmas without his financial infusion.
MUFC are the second most valuable club in the world, at $6.55 billion, behind only Real Madrid.
It is laughable to think they could honestly be broke any time soon.
By the way, the proceeds from the gate, at the friendly versus ASEAN All-Stars itself will reportedly be donated to the Al-Sultan Abdullah Foundation, a local non-profit.
Man United Starting XI Prediction vs ASEAN All-Stars
Altay Bayindir; Tyler Fredricson, Matthijs de Ligt, Ayden Heaven; Diogo Dalot, Toby Collyer, Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Amass; Amad Diallo, Chido Obi, Bruno Fernandes
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter