June 30 – With rumours raging that Manchester United are about to announce the signing of Swedish striker Zoltan Ibrahimovic, the club have confirmed that they have added an extra overseas game to the pre-season tour…in Sweden.
Man Utd will play Galatasaray as part of the Club’s Tour 2016, presented by Aon, on July 30 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg – probably with Ibrahimovic centrestage.
The club is already committed to pre-season in China where they will play Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on Friday July 22, before the first match-up overseas against local rivals Manchester City in Beijing on Monday July 25.
This will also be the first time new managers Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will have faced each other in their new Manchester colours.
The Chinese fixtures are part of the Asian continent component of the International Champions Cup – though the sporting integrity of that competition looks a little dubious.
Man Utd will complete their pre-season fixtures in England against Everton at Old Trafford on Wednesday August 3 in Wayne Rooney’s Testimonial Match, before heading to Wembley Stadium at the weekend for the Community Shield tie against Leicester City.
Manchester United’s Executive Vice Chairman, Ed Woodward, said: “The team has a valuable combination of domestic and overseas games against tough European opposition.
“Playing games across a number of countries allows our tremendous fans the opportunity to watch the team play, and importantly the number of games allows the manager and team the best opportunity to prepare for the coming season.”
Manchester United have said tickets for the Swedish game will go on sale at 11am UK time, Friday July 1 at www.ticketmaster.se.
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