27/05/2025
                                            Manchester United kick off their Asian tour against the ASEAN All Stars on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, just a week after the Europa League final loss to Tottenham Hotspur and three days following the conclusion of a dismal season.
To jump into the warm embrace of fans far away may provide some relief from the headlines at home, but the 20-time English champions may find that their standing in Asia is not quite what it was.
The last time the Premier League trophy went to Old Trafford was in 2013. A year earlier, the club commissioned a report which claimed they had 659 million followers worldwide, around half of which were from the Asia-Pacific region.
While there was doubt about such numbers and also how a 'follower' is defined, the Red Devils were then clearly the most popular English team in Asia and perhaps the most popular team from anywhere.
Commercial performance in Asia remains strong, with reports suggesting the club will earn around £8m for these two games in three days.
Repeated failures on the pitch - such as finishing this Premier League season in 15th - have, however, had an effect on fans, according to Kuala Lumpur-based journalist Haresh Deol, founder of Malaysian news organisation TwentyTwo13.
"There is chatter among fans [about the game], some form of excitement, but it isn't as intense as the club's prior visits to the region, when it was performing well in the Premier League," Deol told BBC Sport.