Gone are the days where pre-season fixtures for a club like Manchester City consist of meetings with local neighbours or visiting European teams.
These days a two-week tour of the USA, Asia or Australia is commonplace for Premier League clubs, enabling them to reach fans (and important commercial markets) that are off-limits during the regular season.
Pep Guardiola and his side will focus on the training pitch and the three friendlies they have scheduled in Tokyo and Seoul over the next fortnight, while City will take a huge travelling party of media and commercial staff to maximise all opportunities out in Japan and South Korea.
Some of those opportunities will give local fans the chance to engage with the newly-crowned treble winners, giving supporters based in Asia a rare chance to watch City in person - and at sociable hours for a change. ALSO READ: City pre-season tour squad in full as Mahrez left out with £30m sale agreed City take on Yokohama and Bayern Munich in Tokyo, before flying to Seoul to face Atletico Madrid.