Man Utd are set to return to Saudi Arabia in January, 18 years after their last visit there, to play a lucrative friendly to recoup revenue lost from their failure to qualify for Europe
United fans in Saudi Arabia 18 years ago (Photo credit should read HASSAN AMMAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester United will be looking to bank upwards of £10million by taking part in a mid-season friendly in Saudi Arabia.
United’s failure to qualify for Europe this season has left a void in their fixture list and on the balance books, with as much as £80m in lost revenue.
One way of recouping some of that lost income from the lack of European matches is by playing a lucrative money-spinning game abroad.
United last visited Saudi in January 2008, the year in which they won the Premier League and Champions League, for an exhibition match with Al-Hilal.
Former United boss Ferguson in 2008 at the palace of HRH Prince Abdullah bin Mosa’ad bin Abdulaziz (Image: Matthew Peters via Getty Images)
The prospect of United returning there in January comes on the back of the club being linked with a fresh takeover bid from a Saudi consortium.
Saudi sports supremo Turki Al-Sheikh, who is understood to be in talks with United over the staging of the friendly in Riyadh, has publicly suggested United are ready to sell to a new investor.
United majority owners the Glazers rejected a takeover by Sheikh Jassim Al-Thani’s Qatari consortium when they sold 27.7 per cent of the club to Sir Jim Ratcliffe for £1.25billion last year.
But Al-Sheikh, the head of the General Entertainment Authority responsible for bringing some of the world’s highest-profile sports events to Saudi Arabia, raised the prospect of a takeover bid with a social media post on X.
Al-Sheikh wrote: “The best news I heard today is that Manchester United is now in an advanced stage of completing a deal to sell to a new investor – I hope he’s better than the previous owners.”
Former United midfielder Anderson rides a camel in Saudi during the team’s visit there in 2008
United have declined to comment publicly on the fresh takeover claim made by Al-Sheikh, but a senior source at the club has described it as “baseless” and without any credence.
With no European fixtures or an EFL Cup tie, following their humiliating second round exit to League Two Grimsby, United do not have a midweek fixture until they face West Ham at Old Trafford on December 3.
As it stands, there is a 10-day gap between United’s Premier League games against Burnley on January 7 and Manchester City on January 17, with the FA Cup third round ties scheduled around the weekend of January 10.
Back in 2008, United flew to Saudi for a five day warm-weather training camp, including the exhibition match, before returning to face Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round, a tie they won 3-1.
Ruben Amorim is unlikely to want his players to make the 6,500 mile round trip to Riyadh before the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, so it is more likely any friendly in the Middle East would be staged after that clash.