AFTER 60 GAMES, MAN UNITED FLEW NEARLY 15,000 MILES FOR TWO POST-SEASON TOUR FRIENDLIES. THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS FOLLOWED THEM TO KUALA LUMPUR AND HONG KONG. 06:00, 31 May 2025Updated

06:12, 31 May 2025 When Manchester United players got wind that a post-season tour was a certainty, a delegation on behalf of the first team squad approached the football leadership team to

express their dismay. One senior player complained that his family holiday, booked for the half-term week after the season ended, would have to be cancelled. Another suggested that players

would try to cry off and avoid a 14,150-mile round trip to Malaysia and Hong Kong. In response to that warning, United brought the departure time of their outbound flight forward to Sunday

on the same flight. The WAGs' spouses might have wished they could join them. Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen are both leaving United and were absent from the tour, with personal

reasons cited. Lindelof's wife, Maja, is due to give birth to their third child and Eriksen is about to get married to his long-time partner Sabrina Kvist Jensen. Well-placed sources

have said the United players were "fuming" to be in Asia after a 60-game season. They are unlikely to generate any sympathy after a trophyless campaign and 15th-placed finish.

United did get to lift a cup in Hong Kong, one so undervalued a press officer carried it back to the dressing room. Article continues below Some United sources assured the mood was better

than expected after last week's demoralising Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Every player conducted the obligatory post-match meet-and-greets in the Hong Kong National

Stadium on Friday evening, including a moody Alejandro Garnacho, this time minus his sunglasses. United's six days away from home Manchester were effectively condensed into four.

Tuesday was teeming with commercial player appearances, with some lasting two hours. Players gladhanded guests on behalf of club sponsors Adidas, Tezos and Snapdragon, among others.

Wednesday marked the now infamous Maybank-sponsored open-top bus journey that Zirkzee, De Ligt and Ayden Heaven were on board for. A United source insists it was not arranged with the

intention of parading the Europa League trophy around Kuala Lumpur and that it was billed as a bus tour. In United's view, this was an example of the distinction between engagement with

local fans and overseas fans. The bus ride was lapped up by locals. Back home, it was a source of embarrassment for those still reeling from the Bilbao blow. Adidas hosted a poolside party

on the deck of the W Hotel after the defeat to the ASEAN All Stars on Wednesday evening. Several guests attended the nocturnal gathering and admired the sight of the glistening Petronas Twin

Towers in the background. There was more commercial activity on Friday ahead of the second friendly with a Hong Kong XI. United held more meet-and-greets following their arrival in Hong

Kong on Thursday, with a minor training session held in the rain. Mason Mount and Altay Bayindir featured after their non-appearances in Malaysia. Three of their teammates were in India.

Andre Onana, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot left the Bukit Jalil National Stadium at half-time on Wednesday to board a private jet to Mumbai. Despite intense commercial activities planned,

the trio were happy to volunteer as they got to return home earlier. After United were beaten by the ASEAN All Stars, there was gallows humour on the team bus back to the W Hotel. The booing

at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium had not gone unnoticed by players and staff. Ruben Amorim reminded the media in Hong Kong there had been loud cheering, too. There were some farcical

post-match scenes in Kuala Lumpur. United had to collect silver medals for the second Wednesday running, but the procession was delayed. The referee and linesmen had returned to their

dressing room but had to be called back out to receive their medals, so United were forced to endure an inordinate wait. A United player half-joked the post-season tour would be "like a

stag do". Some players were tempted to venture out beyond the house arrest of the team hotel but were advised by a senior player to stay in. United staff let their hair down on the

trip. Some enjoyed drinks on the 14-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur while players had permission to head out into Kuala Lumpur on their first night in the Malaysian capital, flanked by security.

A source said nothing "crazy" happened. Sources say the players returned at a reasonable time. United did not bother adjusting to the seven-hour time zone difference as training

and commercial obligations were always held in the afternoons and evenings. Club sources acknowledged the trip was not as disciplined as a pre-season tour and that players could be more

frivolous. Garnacho, Amad and Heaven headed out on e-scooters that had to be paid for by clued-up locals. Zirkzee was not taken by the room service on offer at the W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur,

so headed across the road for some Thai take-out, again accompanied by a security guard. On the eighth floor of United's hotel in Kuala Lumpur there was a vending machine that dispensed

mini bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne, priced at £40. If any United representative was of that persuasion it would have been to drown their sorrows after a shocking season. Happy

faces were put on for signing sessions yet United players still made headlines with some explicit gestures. Amad raised his middle finger to fans he claimed were abusing his mother. Garnacho

has done it multiple times without provocation. The players were advised to stop making the offensive gesture. Those on the tour have found Garnacho to be surly. He promised the All Stars

forward Sergio Aguero that he would give him his shirt after the game. Instead, Garnacho blanked Aguero and United staff had to arrange for a shirt to be gifted to the Malaysian as a

memento. It was noticeable in Hong Kong how carefully some of United's staff shadowed Garnacho as he signed shirts and posed for pictures, never breaking into a smile. Garnacho was one

of the last to board the team bus after the All Stars defeat. With midnight looming, he donned sunglasses and ignored requests in the mixed zone. An eyewitness said he removed the shades

almost immediately after he walked past the packed pen and surmised they were donned at the behest of personal sponsors. It still projected a brattish attitude. Beyond some of the imagery

that has emerged on social media, Garnacho also stuck his middle finger up at one of the United photographers after the All Stars match. Amorim started to chuckle when the remote possibility

of Garnacho staying was raised at a press conference in Hong Kong on Thursday. Amorim cheerfully admitted to a colleague how exhausting the post-season tour had been, especially in the

humidity of Malaysia. The Portuguese will oversee his first pre-season tour with United in July, a condensed and relatively low-key return to the United States, spent primarily in Chicago.

The prestige of the United manager's role has dawned on him. "It's more than a coach," Amorim admitted. "On this tour, I had a small meeting with the Prime Minister

of Malaysia. "You have to improve as a person, as a leader, you have to control the momentum. Sometimes after games you see I'm really frustrated, I'm trying to control that.

The only thing I want is to improve the team and have results, when you have results you can manage the team so much easier." It would be easier if Bruno Fernandes stayed but the United

captain is giving serious consideration to an approach from Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal. Figures at United empathise with Fernandes, who has not shied from the subject with confidants.

They would not blame him if he were to up sticks after five-and-a-half years of underachievement with United. Fernandes has not formally told United he wants to leave. There is

understandable concern at the prospect of United minus Fernandes. His leadership has been apparent even over the past few days in Asia, where he bought staff drinks at the hotel bar and was

generous with post-match autograph requests from Malaysian fans who had crammed into the mixed zone. It was the same in Hong Kong. Fernandes was ushered to the team coach by three secruity

guards. United's stay in Hong Kong was so whistlestop that they were barely in the country for 36 hours. After an early-morning flight, the team spent around an hour at their second W

Hotel to freshen up and have lunch. Then it was back on the bus to the Hong Kong Stadium for training and more meet-and-greets. With ample time to reflect on their worst season in 51 years,

some within the United camp are already at the end of their tether with many in the squad. The widespread consensus is that the players do not play to their maximum in every match, as

evidenced by the contrast in their Europa League and Premier League form. During the open training session in Kuala Lumpur, United's back-to-front attacks were constructed at a glacial

pace. One of the inflatable mannequins quickly deflated. Article continues below That is how the players would feel if they have to embark on another post-season trek.