Manchester United is planning on returning to the United States next summer for several high-profile games to be played across the country.
Details are sketchy at the moment, but The Daily Telegraph newspaper is reporting that United has been invited to return to the States next summer to play games in New York, Chicago and Dallas, presumably as part of the 2016 International Champions Cup.
In the two friendlies that Manchester United havs played so far in the United States, the team has generated impressive attendances of 86,432 for its game against LA Galaxy in Pasadena, California as well as 54,117 against AS Roma at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. As part of its 2014 summer tour, Manchester United will set a US record for the most-attended soccer game in the history of the sport when more than 102,000 soccer fans will take over Ann Arbor this weekend for United’s game against Real Madrid.
Manchester United also has a game scheduled for this Tuesday against Inter Milan in Maryland. Plus, there’s a chance that United may play in the International Champions Cup on Monday in Miami against Manchester City, Liverpool or Olympiacos.
The games featuring Manchester United are not the only ones attracting impressive attendances this summer. Sunday’s game between Manchester City and AC Milan had an attendance of 34,347, which was 10,000 greater than the previous record for a game in Pittsburgh. Saturday’s game between Real Madrid and Inter Milan had 62,583 fans in attendance, while Sunday’s game at Chicago had 36,170 fans at the Liverpool-Olympiacos game.
United officials plan on speaking to Louis Van Gaal after they return to the United States next week. The new Manchester United manager was critical of some of the planning for the tour including the driving distance between hotel and training pitch, as well as the amount of traveling the team has to do. But if and when United plays in the States next summer, they may decide to use one US city as a hub and then travel back and forth by plane to other games, in order to make it less taxing on players.
