• Premier League

United consider mid-season friendlies to plug fixture gap

Manchester United have endured a difficult start to the season, with just two wins from seven © Getty Images

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Manchester United are considering playing lucrative friendlies overseas to fill the midweek void left by the absence of Champions League football this season and their early League Cup exit.

United have forecast a 10% drop in revenue in 2014-15 after they failed to qualify for European competition under former manager David Moyes.

The struggles have left United with just one midweek Premier League match before the end of 2014, and just three in the first three months of 2015.

Going overseas - the Middle East would be the most likely destination - would allow United to escape the English winter for a few days, and the addition of stars such as Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria has made the club even more likely to attract lucrative offers for friendlies.

"That's something we continue to look at, as always making sure that the preparations we do on the pitch come first," United managing director Richard Arnold said.

"For many years of our [pre-season] international tours, there is a plan to ensure we get that team building that goes together with getting the team all together in one place. That's something that's being looked at with regards to the future [friendlies] with Louis [van Gaal]."

Van Gaal said during United's pre-season tour of the United States, shortly after taking over as manager this summer, that the obligations to sponsors and distances the team have to travel were "not very positive for a good preparation" for the new Premier League campaign.

Arnold however, said there is no disagreement with Van Gaal over the possibility of taking on more commercial ventures.

"I can only speak positively of my experience with the manager in terms of his understanding of what's required to get a first-class team onto the pitch and also what's required for running a club of our magnitude," Arnold said. "We have a fantastic partnership in terms of our work off the pitch and I'm very appreciative of the support we have had from him."

Picking up the pieces after Moyes' disappointing 10 months in charge, Van Gaal has managed just two wins from seven matches in charge but the new-look squad is still a work in progress.

"There has been continued excitement that stems from the day that Louis was appointed and it's just been a progressive build from that," Arnold said. "Outside of that obviously there will still be areas we still need to build on."

United remain English football's biggest moneymaker, with revenue up 19% to a club record £433 million in 2013-14.

The latest commercial deal was announced on Monday, with Abengoa announced as the club's first 'sustainable technology partner', working with United to make the company more environmentally friendly.

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