Man-U announces eight-day pre-season tour in China

English football club Manchester United will be returning to China for a pre-season summer tour, the club said in a statement on Tuesday.

More than 107 million followers makes China the country with more Manchester United fans than any others in the world, reports Xinhua.

The eight-day tour forms part of the club's preparations for the 2016-17 Premier League campaign, with further details regarding the tour, including fixture dates, opposition teams, venues and ticket details to be announced in the coming days.

"Manchester United first visited the region in 1975 and have gone on to make a further nine trips to the country, playing 12 games against local sides in the intervening years," a club statement said.

"The most recent game was against Kitchee SC (in Hong Kong) in July 2013, where over 40,000 fans sold-out the game in record time, with millions more supporters watching the game on live television throughout Asia."

Speaking of the club's trip to China, Manchester United's executive vice chairman, Ed Woodward, said on Tuesday: "Manchester United has strong historical links with China and we are very proud of our relationship and of our fans throughout the country."

"A total of almost 5,00,000 supporters have attended previous games during our visits to China and we have always enjoyed exceptional support in the country, so naturally it is something that everybody is very much looking forward to this summer."