Jose Mourinho's bizarre 'baseball referees' complaint resurfaces as Man Utd confirm pre-season tour to the USA

Manchester United have announced a pre-season tour of the USA this summer their first visit to the country in five years.

Although there's still a while left of the current campaign the Red Devils are already preparing next season's schedule and will make a return to America to play a series of games in preparation for the 2023/24 season.

It will be Erik ten Hag's second pre-season tour as manager of the club and the exact locations of United's matches on the tour will be revealed in the next few weeks.

Jose Mourinho was manager of the club the last time they visited the USA where matches were played in Los Angeles, Miami, Michigan, Phoenix and Santa Clara.

The Portuguese boss who now manages Roma branded the officials as "baseball referees" following a 4-1 friendly defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool who were awarded two penalties, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.

What did he say?

The 'special one' is known for his outlandish press conferences and the one following the defeat to the Reds was no different.

"The referees were called by the baseball federation, they thought it was a baseball game and they had to deal with a soccer game,” he said, as reported by GiveMeSport.

Mourinho appeared frustrated at the time with how pre-season was going for his side and made it clear that he needed more players.

He added: "I would like two more players. I don't think I will get two. I think I will get one.

"I gave a list of five. I wait to see if we get one."

Things didn't get much better with United winning just seven of their first 17 games which led to Mourinho losing his job in December.

Whilst United will be focussing on the rest of the current season, Ten Hag will hope that the club's return to the USA goes much better than the last time they visited.