Manchester United to play friendlies next season if they fail to secure European football

Manchester United

Manchester United are all set to play a series of friendly games next season abroad if they fail to qualify for any European competition.

It is believed that the result of failing to qualify for any European competition would result in a minimum £20m loss.

Manchester United are constantly offered multi-million-pound deals to play around the world in exhibition and testimonial games. The club officials are confident of filling the financial loss due to a dismal 2013-14 season, and has already started planning for the potential absence from European competition next term. David Moyes’s side are in sixth, 11 points from a Champions League place.

Last season, for reaching the Champions League round of 16, United received £28.9m from UEFA, plus around £2m per home game from ticket sales. A calculation had revealed that United earned nearly £35m from the competition.

United played a testimonial game in Saudi Arabia in 2008, for the former Wolverhampton Wanderers reserve team player Sami Al-Jaber. The team went to the Middle East directly, after a league game against Reading on a Saturday, for the testimonial game two days later. The trip was 6,000-mile round trip. The trip earned the club £1m.

This August, the team had played a pre-season friendly with the Swedish side AIK which was available on pay-per-view for £5.95. With the club’s huge global fan base, the earnings from matches sold in this way next year are potentially lucrative.