Update: Manchester United set for £25m summer boost as post-season tour decision explained News

Manchester United will head to Malaysia and Hong Kong after their final game of this season for a post-season tour

The outcome of the UEFA Europa League this season will determine the mood of Manchester United heading into the summer. Win the competition and they get a pass into the lucrative Champions League despite what will be a bottom-half Premier League finish.

It has been a chastening campaign on the pitch for United, and off the field, the lack of competitive success in recent years has started to take its toll on the financial health of one of the world’s biggest clubs, with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe having initiated some brutal staffing cuts in order to address some of the issues.

Ratcliffe and his INEOS firm injected some much-needed funds into the club last year, money that Ratcliffe himself had said was required to ensure that the club had cash in the bank by the end of the year, something the 72-year-old British billionaire said would not have happened were “corrective” actions not taken.

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“The club had got bloated so we reduced that and will finish it with a lean and efficient organisation,” Ratcliffe told the BBC last month.

“United would have run out of cash by the end of this year – by the end of 2025 – after having me put $300million in and if we buy no new players in the summer.

“It’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans. My only interest here is returning Manchester United back to greatness again.”

The cost-cutting at the club should be instructive as to the severity of the financial situation if left unaddressed, and with a £2billion stadium build some years away, the club needs to find ways to keep driving revenue forward at the same time as trying to spend to compete.

One way the club are trying to drive forward those revenue streams is by more activity this summer. The club had already announced that they will be part of the Premier League Summer Series in the United States, playing three games in Atlanta, Chicago and New Jersey, with the value of that particular tour likely to be in excess of £15million to the club.

It also will come at a time when the World Cup in North America is just one year out, and the race to win the hearts, minds and wallets of US fans is at the centre of plans for major Premier League sides given the booming interest in the game right now across the Atlantic.

But after the announcement of the US tour, this past week has seen the club confirm that they will be doing a post-season tour, a pretty new addition to the football calendar despite the protests from some managers at major sides about the amount of games already having to be played.

United will head to Hong Kong and Malaysia, departing for Asia immediately after their final game of the season. With finances stretched, the commercial motivation for the move has outweighed any rest and relaxation hopes that the players may have had for that period.

It is estimated that United will earn north of £10million for their brief post-season sojourn to Asia, a market where they feel they need to keep the fire burning bright at a time of competitive struggle. United’s last trip to Malaysia was in 2009, while their last trip to Hong Kong was in 2013.

Completing such a tour right at the end of the season will allow the club to book the revenue into the current financial year, something that will go towards helping them with concerns over meeting the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR). They have limited headroom in that respect unless they player trade effectively this summer, and £10million in additional revenue to be booked for 2024/25 might be more impactful than it seems.

Post-season tours are likely to become more commonplace as clubs seek to eke out as much revenue opportunities as they can towards the end of their financial years, essentially giving them two bites of the cherry in the summer at connecting with their global fan bases. It is the direction of travel at a time of some concern over the long-term health of broadcast rights and increasing costs when it comes to operating football clubs at an elite level. Clubs need to follow the revenue opportunities wherever they can find them.