Ruben Amorim confirms Man Utd will play mid-season friendlies as Cristiano Ronaldo reunion in Saudi Arabia gathers pace

The Red Devils failed to qualify for any form of European football for the first time in 11 years after finishing 15th in the Premier League and losing the Europa League final to Tottenham and thus passing up a ticket back into the Champions League. Their failure to qualify for Europe's top competition has deprived the club of around £100m while the lack of games at Old Trafford also means they will not be receiving extra matchday revenue like last season, when they hosted seven Europa League games. 

It had been reported earlier in the week that the club were mulling playing a match in Saudi Arabia and Amorim confirmed the as-yet-unconfirmed plans in his press conference on Friday.

Amorim said: "We have to do it. And you know, we knew that when we missed out on Europe, we have a lot of things to do. We have our fans, we have the budget, we have to to compensate for a lot of things. So we have to do it. We will do it. We want to be with our fans around the world. If you have to do it, you have to manage to find the space to do it."

If United go through with the plans to play friendlies abroad it will be their third continent-crossing excursion in 12 months. They went on a post-season tour of Asia in May, losing to ASEAN All-Stars in Malaysia and then beating a Hong Kong XI. They then conducted their usual summer tour of the United States, facing West Ham United, Bournemouth and Everton in the Premier League's Summer Series. Saudi Arabia has been mentioned as the most likely destination for United due to the financial benefits of playing in the gulf nation, which has gone all in on hosting sports events in the last few years, a move driven by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The most enticing match from a marketing point of view would see United face Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr. Ronaldo left United to join the Saudi giants in acrimonious circumstances in 2022 following his tell-all interview with Piers Morgan, in which he slammed the way the club had been run and hit out at coaches Erik ten Hag and Ralf Rangnick. 

The prospect of Ronaldo facing his former club in Riyadh would be a huge draw for fans and broadcasters and would likely be supported by Bin Salman, who is keen to draw tourists to the Kingdom.

While United have plenty of free weeks due to their lack of European football and being knocked out of the Carabao Cup, Al-Nassr have a busier schedule, competing in four separate competitions. 

United boss Amorim is under increasing pressure after losing three of the first six games of the Premier League season. He admitted that he cannot stand losing games and is hoping for a reprieve when United take on Sunderland on Saturday. He said: "The worst thing in this job is not to win games. Then it is a job, it is a dream to be here and I want to continue here and fight for this. What makes me suffer is to lose games, not to lose your job. I just want to continue this but when we don’t win games, that is the suffering I have. When you finish the game and you can see me, I don’t care about my job."