Manchester United's Proposed Friendly with AC Milan Still Short of Many Details

It has long been suggested that Manchester United, without Champions League football to feather their financial nest this season, would look to play a couple of lucrative friendlies during the campaign to help plug that gap in their annual balance sheet.

That prospect now looks to be closer than ever, after Italian side AC Milan—who are also not involved in European competition this season—confirmed on Friday that they have been in talks with the Premier League side about playing a mid-season friendly at some point in the early part of 2015.

Speaking to the Press Association, AC Milan director Umberto Gandini confirmed (via the Guardian): “This is something we have been talking about for a few weeks [with United] and we have a committed interest to do something together.

"It's just a question to find the right date and then to find the right place."

Early speculation is that the game will take place in the Middle East, where the climate, at that time of year at least, would be conducive to an evening kick-off and both sides could also attract sizeable appearance fees.

Real Madrid’s friendly with Paris Saint-Germain in Doha in January this year would appear to be an obvious blueprint in that regard, although playing further afield—Asia, for example, or even in the United States, where United attracted 100,000 fans for their recent pre-season friendly with Madrid—could perhaps bring in even more money in ticket sales.

There will be no shortage of venues willing and able to host such a game between two of the most storied sides in European football. The difficulty will not be in nailing down where the game will be played, but rather when it will take place.

Real were able to play PSG at the start of January this year because both clubs’ domestic leagues employ a winter break, creating a natural gap in the calendar (and one in which friendlies almost become useful as a method of building back up to full fitness). United have no such extended layoff on their calendar, with English football famously busy over the festive period.

Indeed, United are scheduled to face Stoke City in the league on New Year’s Day, just four days after they face Tottenham Hotspur and perhaps only three before they could be playing in the third round of the FA Cup.

If they lose in the FA Cup at that stage, however, then they will be presented with a few windows for a money-spinning friendly.

They will have 14 days between league matches against Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City when the fourth round is due to take place, for example, and another 11 later on in February when the fifth round is scheduled. Even if they do progress in the cup, those windows could work well—especially if the draw hands them an "easier" home match.

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Any later than that in the calendar, however, and playing an overseas friendly may only distract from United’s primary ambition this season, which is to return to the Champions League via the Premier League.

Considering the club is only considering such friendlies to make up the money lost by not being involved in European competition (a loss that, it has been estimated, is costing them over £40 million), it would make no sense to risk that scenario repeating itself for another year by committing players to long-distance trip and a non-competitive match, leaving them at less than 100 percent for more meaningful fixtures down the line.

The Press Association immediately identified January 28 (a Wednesday) as a plausible date; United will not be involved in the Capital One Cup semi-finals scheduled to take place around that date, while there are no games pencilled in on the Italian calendar either.

Last season, United were removed from the FA Cup at the third round stage, losing at home to Swansea, with beleaguered manager David Moyes subsequently taking his squad to Dubai for a five-day warm-weather training break during that aforementioned fourth round weekend.

A repeat of this arrangement, with the addition of a friendly with AC Milan, during that window or another, smaller one, would seem eminently plausible, even if AC Milan would have to make slight sacrifices to be involved (the Rossoneri host Empoli on the same weekend the FA Cup fourth round is scheduled, and Cesena a week later).

On all accounts, however, it would seem to require a certain amount of flexibility—it would seem highly probable that United (and perhaps also Milan) have sounded out alternative clubs to fulfil the fixture, just in case final schedules do not suit the two original parties. What happens, for example, if a fixture for either side is postponed in January, and needs to be rescheduled?

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Of course, this speculation is all based on the assumption that both clubs will take the friendly at least relatively seriously. If that is not the case, however—if both clubs are happy to use their brand as a selling point in advance, before actually only send a playing squad of fringe players and youth prospects—then the game could take place during almost any week in early 2015, with no notable ill-effects on either side’s domestic ambitions.

United could even play such an overseas friendly every other week for six weeks to two months—if they could find willing opponents—without undermining their league campaign.

This would seem to be an unlikely move, however—it would make it difficult for either club to play such a friendly again (fans would stay away) and undermine half the point of the whole venture (to expand the fanbase in new markets). As such it is probably a worse-case scenario, should domestic commitments make the friendly a difficult proposition.

What is clear is that Louis van Gaal is on board with the general idea, having been praised by United's managing director last month for his co-operation with the proposal.

"That's something that's being looked at," Richard Arnold told the BBC, when asked about the idea of mid-season, midweek friendlies—and whether Van Gaal had given his approval.

"We have a fantastic partnership in terms of our work off the pitch and I'm very appreciative of the support we have had from him."

Arnold also cited the "team-building" benefits of taking the squad to an overseas training camp, while a friendly against quality opposition would, in theory, offer the opportunity to sharpen up the first team.

As Van Gaal added this month, according to the Press Association (h/t the Daily Mail): "I like to play midweek games against high-level opponents."

In general terms, neutral observers may bemoan the fact that football has seemingly got to the stage where clubs will go to such lengths to maintain their income levels. But advances in travel and sports science and numerous other sectors means such trips are no longer the energy-sapping exercise they once were, and the benefits almost rival the drawbacks in many ways.

It would seem that many details still need to be ironed out before the friendly is arranged, and many pieces will have to fall into place nearer the time for it to occur without causing major issues for one or both parties.

If both clubs can pull it off, however, it could serve as a blueprint for the future for all clubs who find themselves without the benefit of European football.

It should not be forgotten that United will not be wanting to follow the blueprint again; they will be determined for it to be a one-time only event, as they intend to qualify for next year’s Champions League

That is the priority above all—if the mooted friendly does not eventually take place, that might well be the reason why.