José Mourinho is not the only person lacking enthusiasm for Manchester United’s pre-season tour. The club began their two-and-a-half-week trip around the United States with a 1-1 draw against Club América in the early hours of yesterday, but they did so in front of a sparse crowd.

Organisers had to shut the top tier of the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona because of poor ticket sales. Only 37,766 turned up to the 63,000-capacity venue for the game, the first of five matches that United are playing.

Players such as Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford have been given extended breaks after their long stints at the World Cup, and the lack of stars in the team has caused interest in the tour to