Valencia: Our last trip to America was incredible
Manchester United defender Antonio Valencia cannot wait to return to America for Tour 2018, presented by Aon later this month.
The Reds' pre-season trip to the US will include friendlies against Club America (20 July) and San Jose Earthquakes (22 July), followed by games against AC Milan (26 July), Liverpool (28 July) and Real Madrid (1 August) in the International Champions Cup.
It's the second successive year United have visited the States to prepare for an upcoming Premier League campaign and Valencia hopes this visit will be as successful as last summer’s excursion.
“Last year on tour was incredible,” the Ecuadorian told ManUtd.com. “It was a great experience. The team put in some very good performances.
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“What I remember especially is the very warm welcome and the great feeling we got from all the supporters who turned up to see us play.
“I’m really looking forward to this year’s tour and returning to Los Angeles. Hopefully we can put on another good display and we will be fighting to get some victories.
“It’s really incredible, the welcome we get in any American city. It gives us all great pride to be part of the club when we see the fans turning out in huge numbers."
Last summer the Reds played Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona in a number of US cities and received great support from the local fans. Valencia is expecting more of the same this year.
“It’s really incredible, the welcome we get in any American city. It gives us all great pride to be part of the club when we see the fans turning out in huge numbers,” he said.
United’s longest-serving player also feels that playing some of the world’s top sides will be great preparation for the new season.
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“It’s important to play against high-level teams and that’s what we’re going to do this summer," he said.
“It helps you in your preparation physically and you hope to come back from tour in good form for the start of the season. You want to feel prepared and in the right physical shape for the demands of the new Premier League season."
Manchester United’s full pre-season schedule:
20 July
Club America (03:00 BST), Phoenix
22 July
San Jose Earthquakes (22:00 BST), Santa Clara
26 July
AC Milan (04:05 BST), Carson, California
28 July
Liverpool (22:05 BST), Ann Arbor, Michigan
1 August
Real Madrid (01:05 BST), Miami
5 August
Bayern Munich (19:15 BST), Munich
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