Manchester United are exploring the possibility of playing a friendly in China after the Barclays Premiership champions reluctantly agreed to scrap plans to visit Malaysia on the final leg of their summer tour of Asia. United had been invited by the Malaysian government to play in Kuala Lumpur on July 27 as part of the country’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

But after the Asian Football Association (AFC) and Fifa insisted that the match could not go ahead while the Asia Cup, for which Malaysia are one of four co-hosts, was taking place, the club had no alternative but to cancel the fixture.

“It is very frustrating that the club was not made aware of the contract between the AFC and the Football Association of Malaysia preventing such games in July,” David Gill, the United chief executive, said.

United are committed to completing the first three legs of the tour in Tokyo, Seoul and Macau and could travel to China instead of Malaysia, although a destination in the Middle East has also been touted as a possibility.