Manchester United kits being given away to US fans in bid to fill stadium - but shirts will be out of date in days

Move appears desperate bid to fill 18,000 capacity stadium for pre-season friendly

Former players Dwight Yorke (L) and Quinton Fortune on Manchester United's pre-season tour in the US (GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United shirts are being given away free in a bid to fill an 18,000 capacity stadium for the pre-season match with San Jose Earthquakes - only the 'lucky' recipients will only have a few days to enjoy the jersey before it is out of date.

Tomorrow's game, which kicks off at 4am BST, was shifted away from the 60,000 capacity California Memorial Stadium in late June and relocated to the much smaller Avaya Stadium at United's request. It's understood Louis van Gaal wanted to cut down on the amount of travel for his team.

The stadiums are 45 miles away from each other and despite over 40,000 tickets being sold for the original venue, the pre-season friendly match has not sold out.

In a bid to boost sales, San Jose Earthquakes offered a free Manchester United jersey to anyone who bought a pair of tickets for the game.

With football jerseys often sold for seemingly excessive prices, it appeared an excellent deal. Only the Nike made shirt will soon be out of date, with Manchester United due to launch an Adidas kit for the upcoming season at the start of August.