PFA CEO Maheta Molango said players from Premier League teams have contacted the Players League PFA to "express their attention to their participation in the playoff tour".

United returned from two matches on Saturday after flying to Malaysia and Hong Kong in friendly matches between Malaysia and Hong Kong within a few hours of the final Premier League match against Aston Villa on May 25.

In May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United played a playoff friendly match in Melbourne, Australia just three days after the last weekend of the 2023-24 Premier League campaign.

In recent years, Manchester City has also participated in the playoffs in the United States and Canada.

Sources told ESPN that Manchester United won the club's £8 million ($10.8 million) appearance fee last week, but the tour was controversial due to the team's performance, with Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho both coming under criticism for their obscene gestures to their supporters.

But in accepting the need to maximize revenue streams for the club, PFA CEO Molango spoke at the FIFPRO summit in Munich, saying players are increasingly dissatisfied with the overseas friendly game to reduce rest time.

“I think we all pay attention and understand some of the financial dynamics that the club has gone through, but the reality is that a lot of players are paying attention,” Morango said. “We (PFA) are paying attention to those playoff trips.

"I'm not only talking about men United, but I'm talking about this situation in general, which reaffirms the need to do a holistic approach to the problem because if you only attack one particular game, you won't solve the problem. You need to be able to take a holistic view."

While Premier League teams still have relatively rare playoff tours, preseason games in Asia and North America have become the norm for high-profile teams in major leagues.

Some will compete in the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, a one-month tournament that began in the United States, which will begin on June 14, while four clubs - United, Everton, Bournemouth and West Ham - will be held in the Premier League Summer Series in the United States between July 26 and August 3.

Champions Liverpool will play games in Hong Kong and Japan, Arsenal will travel to Singapore, Hong Kong and Newcastle, and the Spurs will meet in South Korea.

Morango said the high-profile fixtures on the pre-season tour also became a problem because of the strength of the domestic rival, a competitor known as a friendly game.

"Because sometimes you play derby people, local derbys happen all over the world, so you can't just use slippers to just be on the derby," Morango said. "Sometimes I think there is this misunderstanding.

“Yes, it’s about rest, but then having the proper ability to build to this level of intensity and that level.”