Man Utd planning post-season matches in Asia

Following the Premier League’s final two games in May, Manchester United will play two games in Hong Kong and Malaysia in the offseason.

Last season, Tottenham and Newcastle flew to Australia for an end-of-season friendly – described as “madness” by BBC pundit Alan Shearer.

With FA Cup replays being eliminated in an effort to ease the congestion in the football calendar, Fifa’s expanded Club World Cup and Uefa’s larger Champions League format have been extensively discussed this season.

Up to 200 staff members will lose their jobs as a result of a second round of redundancies announced by United this week.

Despite bringing in huge revenues from commercial, matchday and broadcasting income, United have lost more than £300m in the past five years.

On Tuesday, head coach Ruben Amorim accepted the first-team group bear responsibility for driving up revenues, as the “engine” of the club.

Playing games abroad is one way to do that. The club is set to return to the United States next summer as part of the Premier League’s pre-season tournament, beginning in late July, after the Club World Cup has concluded.

Although nothing has yet been agreed, United is almost certain that they will travel to the Far East for two games against unknown opponents.

Between the Champions League final on May 25 and the final match against Aston Villa on May 31, there is a week before players are required to be released for international duty.