Sydney FC set to play PSG in pre-season

Reigning A-League champions Sydney FC have all but locked in a pre-season match against PSG to be played in China on July 30.

The French heavyweights were originally scheduled to play Espanyol on July 27 with Europa League qualifiers ultimately seeing the Spanish club have to withdraw.

In come the Sky Blues, who will now travel to Suzhou as part of PSG's Asia Summer Tour. 

The Paris-based club will also tackle Inter and Stade Rennais during their trip to China.

Sydney FC's pre-season plans remain relatively unknown though they will learn their opponent for the FFA Cup round of 32 tonight.

Four of those games are set to be played between July 30-31 presenting a potential hurdle to the Sky Blues trip to China which the club are yet to officially confirm.  

Steve Corica's side won last season's A-League grand final on penalties against Perth Glory having finished the regular season in second. 

The Sky Blues last high-profile friendly came in July 2017 when they hosted Arsenal at ANZ Stadium with the Premier League club claiming a 2-0 win. 

PSG have made a habit of going to China in pre-season over the past few years and will be bringing their first-team squad with them this year. 

"All the team are very enthusiastic to come back to China," Maxwell Scherrer said in a club statement. 

"This will be the third time for the club, following two successful campaigns in 2014 and 2018.

"We are especially delighted to discover two cities where Paris Saint-Germain has never played before and to come back here to Shenzhen, a city and a stadium we know from last year.

"It is a very exciting time. Passion for football is more intense than ever in China and we want to continue to build strong ties with the local fans.”