Manchester United could join other Premier League clubs in landmark USA pre-season tournament

Pre-season tours are a staple of the modern game. Every year clubs like Manchester United choose a location to travel to and play games with both local and other world-famous clubs to allow a section of their global fanbase who can't come and watch them on a regular basis the opportunity to do so.

This year, United's tour was mainly based in Australia but there were also games played in Bangkok and Oslo as well as a single game at Old Trafford. However, the Premier League have plans which could fundamentally change the outlook of preseason tours.

The Athletic have revealed that the Premier League have put forward plans for the 20 clubs that would see six of them each season compete in a pre-season tournament in America. So far, 14 clubs appear keen but the thoughts of 'Big Six', which includes United are less clear.

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The tournament would reportedly involve an East vs West style system, similar to the NBA and NFL. The six would be split into two leagues of three teams who would compete in a round-robin style competition; the winners of each would then play each other for the pre-season trophy.

With no major tournaments next summer, given the World Cup will take place this winter, the Premier League hope that the best names would be available to compete. Though fans would expect that clubs like United will be keen to give their stars an extended rest, given the amount of fixture congestion present in the 2022/23 campaign.

This idea is seen as an upgrade of the now discontinued Premier League Asia Trophy, which ran between 2003 and 2019, which ran over two days. The tournament spanned multiple cities and even countries and showed that a