Manchester United arrive back in England in early hours after chaotic tour of China comes to premature end

The International Champions Cup match against Manchester United was cancelled yesterday

Samuel Stevens
Tuesday 26 July 2016 10:20 BST
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Luke Shaw and his Manchester United team-mates return home on Tuesday morning
Luke Shaw and his Manchester United team-mates return home on Tuesday morning

Manchester United’s players and staff have arrived back in England after torrential rainfall and sweltering conditions forced their pre-season tour of China to be called-off prematurely.

Jose Mourinho was visibly irksome as he was forced to conduct a press conference outdoors after the air conditioning unit failed to cool the media facilities in Beijing while the friendly with rivals Manchester City was also cancelled with just six hours’ notice.

The Independent understands Mourinho has been given final say on future pre-season arrangements after the calamitous International Champions Cup trip to Asia which has dented his plans ahead of the new Premier League season.

United posted pictures to the 8.25m followers on their official Twitter account @ManUtd this morning as players including David de Gea, Luke Shaw and Wayne Rooney landed in Manchester earlier than expected.

"As the leading pre-season tournament globally, International Champions Cup is committed to delivering safe and professional match conditions for the world’s best footballers, that in turn delivers great entertainment for fans. The extreme weather leading up to the match in Beijing has damaged the National Stadium playing surface to an extent that leaves it in an unplayable condition,” tournament spokesman Patrick Murphy said.

Mark Ogden: Can't see Utd or City rushing back to China

"We have collectively made this cancellation decision in the interest of player safety and concerns over the players' subsequent ability to put on a display for the fans that meets the quality standard of the International Champions Cup."

Mourinho’s men can now prepare for the match against Galatasaray in Gothenburg, Sweden, ahead of Rooney’s testimonial match against Everton at Old Trafford on 3 August.

United take on champions Leicester City in the Community Shield the following Sunday at Wembley. While it is understood that United plan to return to China in the near future, the decision will now need to be signed off by their Portuguese manager.

This is not the first time their pre-season tours have threatened to disrupt their pre-season preparation after Louis van Gaal, Mourinho’s predecessor, bemoaned their arrangements while in the United States in 2014.

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