Manchester United cut tour of United States to 12 days
Manchester United are set to travel to the the United States on a condensed 12-day programme after Louis van Gaal negotiated a less onerous tour for his players.
The pre-season trip would be a week shorter than last year's visit which included matches in Los Angeles, Denver, Washington DC, Detroit and Miami.
United are committed to playing three games in the States, with the potential of a fourth, on the understanding the squad is back in Manchester by August 1 - a week before the start of the Premier League season.
As part of their tour, United will take part in the International Champions Cup, a tournament they won last summer by beating Liverpool in Miami.
Fixtures for the event have yet to be confirmed with the delay understood to be due, in part, to organisers waiting on United's confirmed itinerary preferences.
Van Gaal is likely to prefer a west coast base where the weather is more moderate.
The Dutchman was outspoken in his criticism of the pre-season fixtures he inherited from former United manager David Moyes which had the team playing at altitude in Colorado, in a thunderstorm in Florida, and staying in an hotel over an hour from their Los Angeles training base.
Meanwhile, Manchester City, Real Madrid and AS Roma have agreed to travel to Australia for a three-match round-robin format as part of the International Champions Cup draw.
Liverpool and Tottenham have confirmed plans to visit Malaysia and Australia in July, while Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City will compete in the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore as part of their pre-season preparations.