A Manchester United squad, including Alejandro Garnacho, were due to arrive in Malaysia on Monday for a friendly, less than 24 hours after finishing the club's worst season since 1974.
Manchester United's campaign may have concluded with a 2-0 home win against Aston Villa on Sunday, but their players' work is far from over. In the immediate aftermath of the match, the squad boarded a flight bound for Malaysia, marking the start of a post-season tour of Asia.
The tour, which features two matches and concludes with a fixture against the Hong Kong national team on Friday, includes 32 players handpicked by manager Ruben Amorim. Club captain Bruno Fernandes, seasoned midfielder Casemiro, and winger Alejandro Garnacho are among the senior names making the trip.
Hours after beating Villa, a 32-man squad including Argentine winger Garnacho jetted off for the red-eye flight to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and a match on Wednesday against a Southeast Asian XI.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana and England defender Luke Shaw were similarly on the plane to Asia despite also not featuring against Villa.
However, Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof, both of whom have announced their exits, have opted out of the journey for personal reasons. Defenders Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui did not travel, United said, but most of the rest of the first-team squad is expected to feature.
Alongside the established players, a host of younger and less experienced talents have been included on the trip, providing Amorim with the opportunity to evaluate his squad options ahead of the next campaign.
Highs of 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) are forecast in Kuala Lumpur this week, and thunderstorms are predicted on the day of the game at the 84,000-capacity Bukit Jalil national stadium.
Thunderstorms and showers are also forecast this week in Hong Kong, where humidity will be close to 100 percent.
In July 2013, then Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio labelled the playing surface a "killer pitch" after heavy rain played havoc with the conditions.