The "Daily Mail" reported that Manchester United is looking for ways to fill the vacancies in the schedule and financial holes. The club plans to arrange mid-season friendly matches, and Saudi Arabia is one of the options under discussion.
Last season's loss to Tottenham in the Europa League final caused Manchester United to lose 100 million pounds for failing to enter the Champions League, including 10 million pounds that needed to be repaid to Adidas under the terms of the 900 million pound jersey sponsorship agreement.
Manchester United earned £8 million from trips to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong in May and could earn even more if they visit Saudi Arabia during the season in Riyadh, which starts on Friday and lasts until March.
The Saudi General Entertainment Authority released a preliminary schedule on Monday, which leaves room for a high-profile football match.
One of the three options facing United is to participate in the Riyadh Season Cup, a three-way tournament with the capital's two biggest clubs, Riyadh Victory and Riyadh Crescent, which Inter Miami participated in in February.
Manchester United is expected to earn about 5 million pounds in revenue per game. This two-game tournament can ensure a guaranteed income of 10 million pounds. There will be additional bonuses if the team wins the championship, plus additional income from commercial cooperation during the extended stay in Saudi Arabia.
Another option is a short-term visit to play an exhibition match with the Saudi All-Stars, similar to the one PSG will play in January 2023, which would bring in close to £5 million.
Manchester United can also arrange to cooperate with the Saudi royal family or the General Entertainment Authority to hold a warm-climate training camp in Riyadh and play a separate game, most likely against Ronaldo's Riyadh victory, which will once again bring about 5 million pounds in revenue to the club.
This is much higher than the 1 million pounds received when Sir Alex Ferguson led the team with Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia for a memorial match against Riyadh Crescent in January 2008.
All of United's options are likely to see the oil-rich nation foot the bill for travel, accommodation and warm-weather training facilities.
This is only the second time in 35 years that Manchester United has missed the European war, resulting in a large number of gaps in the schedule. Being eliminated by Grimsby in the first round of the League Cup made it even worse. There was more than three months between the Carabao Cup exit and the next midweek game against West Ham United in early December.
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