I WANNA BE IN AMERICA

Manchester United announced today that the club will return to the United States for three pre-season games next summer.

The visit was announced at a press conference at NikeTown in New York by Sir Alex Ferguson and Charles Stillitano, chairman of ChampionsWorld, the New Jersey based sports promotion company.

The 2004 ChampionsWorld Series will take Manchester United to Chicago for the first time. The match will take place at Soldier Field, the newly renovated American football stadium beside Lake Michigan.

Ferguson will then lead his team back into the New York area for a match at Giants Stadium.

The venue for the third game is yet to be confirmed. United will play top class continental European teams, and the Club's opponents will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Exact dates for United's 2004 pre-season games will be confirmed in due course, but the games are likely to be held between the end of July and early August.

Fergie said in NY:

"We've just had our best start in the premier league, and a lot of that is down to the preparation we had in the U.S. over the summer.

"I knew immediately we had to arrange to come back next year. All I am interested in is what's best for the players, and I had the power to decide to return because it served us so well.

"In terms of top-drawer performances, we don't normally get them until the second half of the season but I am very pleased with our form."

Promoters Champions World hope to match Germany's Bayern Munich against United in Chicago, while the New Jersey-based company is still in talks to bring over Spanish giants Real Madrid as part of the pre-season series.

Ferguson said he also hoped United would be invited to the World Club Championship in July 2005, which could also be staged in the U.S.