Chelsea or Manchester United May Play Barcelona In Qatar, While Man City Could Head to UAE

Either Manchester United or Chelsea may play a February friendly against Barcelona in Qatar, according to a report in the Spanish media.

Under Barcelona’s sponsorship agreement with Qatar Sports Investments, the Spanish club is being encouraged to play a high-profile friendly in Qatar against a Premier League club. Nothing has been finalized yet. But once the club’s schedules become more clear, a decision will be reached.

A potential match-up between Jose Mourinho, now at Chelsea, and Barcelona would be quite mouthwatering indeed.

Meanwhile, the Manchester Evening News last night reported that Manchester City were being considered to play in a friendly in the UAE in January against Al Ain, to help the club open its brand new stadium. If it happens, the match would be played on January 14 — just two days after City play Newcastle, and four days before City play at home versus Cardiff.

While matches in the Middle East can be quite lucrative for Premier League clubs, the concern is that if the league and FA enact a winter break, then there wouldn’t be much break at all if Premier League football clubs are traveling around the world and playing in friendlies during that time.