This was the bizarre moment that Manchester United stars reportedly had to call upon help from locals in Malaysia while touring Kuala Lumpur on e-scooters in the wake of their limp post-season tour defeat to ASEAN All-Stars.
The curtain fell on a woeful season for Ruben Amorim’s men on Sunday, with a 2-0 home victory to Aston Villa failing to put the necessary gloss on a 16th-place Premier League finish.
Last week, Man United also missed out on their last chance at silverware – and their chance at a hoped-for spot in the Champions League next season – in their Europa League final against Tottenham, which saw the Red Devils overturned 1-0 in Bilbao.
But rather than retreat for the summer and regroup ahead of the next campaign, Amorim’s players departed on Sunday for a lucrative Asian post-season tour.
However, the team’s gloom only continued overseas, with Man United losing 1-0 to a team of hand-picked Southeast Asia internationals and stars from regional leagues in the Maybank Cup at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Despite the loss, some Man United players appeared to seem keen to make the most of their time overseas, venturing out into the city and renting e-scooters.
A number of Man United players including Amad Diallo were spotted using e-scooters while on tour in Malaysia
The players reportedly encountered difficulty paying for the vehicles in Kuala Lumpur
United flew to Asia for a lucrative post-season tour but have been unable to banish the gloom of last season
In a video shared to Reddit, Amad Diallo, Alejandro Garnacho, and Ayden Heaven were spotted in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, after they appeared to be helped out by locals with payment for the vehicles.
The rentable scooters were likely only accessible using a local app, accounting for the confusion over payment, but supporters on social media were unwilling to miss the opportunity to lampoon Man United’s finances.
‘Jim (Ratcliffe) can’t even afford f*ing (sic) scooters for the lads (crying emoji) (laugh-cry emoji),’ one commented.
‘More of Sir Jim’s cutbacks?’ Another added.
‘These cuts are going too far, Sir Jim,’ a third added in the same vein, with another joking: ‘Even Barcelona wasn’t this broke, gahdam (sic).’
Another pondered: ‘This is just unbelievably bizarre. It feels like a parody I can’t describe it.’
One commenter summed up: ‘Holy s*** lol this humiliation tour keeps getting better and better’.
But many in the comments were sympathetic to the players, who had likely fallen victim to a broken app – even if some were keen to query why the players were allowed to take the somewhat dangerous mode of transport.
With many players set to move on this summer, some like Alejandro Garnacho may have played their last game for the club
The players were surrounded by fans and thoughtfully agreed to pose for photos with them
Ruben Amorim admitted that his United team have a predilection for ‘choking’ under pressure
Amorim’s squad will now travel to Hong Kong to face off with the special administrative region’s national team, but the Portuguese manager will likely wish to see more spirit from his players before the end of the post-season tour.
‘Yes, a disappointing result, but no injuries and a tough pitch,’ Amorim said after the final whistle.
‘We don’t have it in us not to choke in every exercise, in every game, that is what happened.
‘We should win these kind of games, no matter what. We need to bring that inside of us in every game.
‘The important thing is no injuries with this weather and to arrive here in this day. It is not an excuse, we should perform better.’
