Manchester United will take a full-strength squad to southeast Asia for their post-season tour — even though it means that they will return to the UK less than 48 hours before the beginning of the international break.
Ruben Amorim said it was important that all the United squad, including senior players such as the captain Bruno Fernandes, make the seven-day, 14,000-mile round trip to the Far East, where the team will play a southeast Asian all-star side in Kuala Lumpur on May 28, before taking on a Hong Kong XI in Hong Kong two days later.
Players have complained of burnout in the past, but Amorim said that the tour would be beneficial to the club financially — United are expected to pocket £8million — and the fans deserve it after the team performed so poorly in the Premier League this season.
“Yes, I was consulted [about the trip],” Amorim said. “We cannot say anything after this season. We need to help the club, because the club wins [earns] some money and we are going to connect with our fans around the world.
“That is important, especially when we lose and we disappoint our supporters during this tough season. I think it’s the least we can do. We are going to take all the team, young kids also, and we’ll have the staff there. We have [had] a lot of changes in the staff, so we are trying to build something as a family. I think it’s also a good thing.”
United will head straight home on a chartered flight after the final match in Hong Kong, which means they will land in the UK on the morning of Saturday, May 31. The Fifa international window does not begin until Monday, June 2, although Thomas Tuchel’s England squad could convene a day earlier.
It is understood that plans have been made to ease in the United players who are selected for England. Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount are possible participants in the double-header against Andorra and Senegal.
The first England match, which comes after a training camp in Barcelona, will take place the following Saturday, June 7, and the opponents are one of the worst-ranked sides in the world, so it is not much of an issue.
For Fernandes, and possibly Diogo Dalot, who could have returned from a calf injury by then, the situation is a bit more problematic as Portugal’s crunch Nations League semi-final against Germany in Lisbon is on June 4.
In Europe, United have shone brightly this year, winning nine and drawing five of their 14 Europa League matches, including Thursday’s semi-final hammering of Athletic Bilbao, who lost 4-1 at Old Trafford and 7-1 on aggregate.
Domestically, United have performed terribly. They are languishing in 15th place and they could end the season in 17th if Tottenham Hotspur, the other Europa League finalist, and Sunday’s visitors, West Ham United, leapfrog them in the final three matches of the season.
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Two of those fixtures — against West Ham and away to Chelsea — come before the final and Amorim accepts that he will get criticised for resting some of his players in the next week so they are fit to play Spurs in Bilbao on May 21.
Roy Keane, the former captain, was particularly vociferous in his criticism of the club’s domestic form, branding United a “disgrace” for prioritising the final over the Premier League.
“I don’t have anything to say about the criticism because we deserve it and if we cannot accept [criticism] in this kind of season, I think we are in the wrong business,” Amorim said when asked about Keane’s comments. “I fully acknowledge that and I agree with all the critics, but in this moment I think it’s really clear. We have to be smart.
“We have to take the risk to get a lot of criticism from everybody, because the standards of Roy Keane and all these guys are really high, but I have to make a choice: what is the best for the club, not what is the best for me. I make a choice. At this moment I’m going to try to save all the players, because it’s really important for us to win the final.”
