Manchester United pencil Malta friendly on August 3 – report

Manchester United have pencilled a friendly in Malta on August 3, reports in the UK said on Monday.

The Times of Malta earlier this year had reported that the English champions were in talks with the Malta Tourism Authority over the possibility of bringing their first-team squad for pre-season training on the islands.

A report on the United journal said: “Manchester United are due to play a friendly in Malta, with the date now pencilled in for August 3, but the game could be staged behind closed doors.”

Earlier, this year the Times of Malta had reported that the Malta Tourism Authority are currently working on plans to bring over to Malta English Premier League giants Manchester United on a pre-season training camp.

In September 2019, the Malta Tourism Authority had signed an agreement with the English club that would see Malta become an official destination partner for the three-times European champions until 2022.

The Times of Malta had reported during that time that the MTA were stepping up their efforts to bring over the Red Devils to Malta but their aspirations were scuppered with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced them to shelve their plans.

Talks remained ongoing in the last few weeks between the two parties but so far no agreement has been reached according to Johann Buttigieg, the Malta Tourism Authority CEO.

“Talks between the two parties have no stopped, but at the moment no agreement has been reached,” Buttigieg said.

“Our hope is that we can come with a positive outcome in the short term.”

Manchester United’s trip to Malta could face some hiccups due to the COVID-19 situation in the UK and Malta not being included in the green list of the UK government.

In fact, with cases rising considerably in the UK in the last few days, it remains to be seen whether the Red Devils will be given permission to travel outside the country.