Manchester United have become accustomed to accusations of greed when they embark on money-spinning excursions abroad, but David Gill, the club’s chief executive, has launched an impassioned defence of the decision to travel to Saudi Arabia for a lucrative mid-season break.

Having travelled through the night after flying out from Heathrow in the wake of their 2-0 victory away to Reading in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday, United’s bleary-eyed players and staff stepped off their private plane at Riyadh King Khaled international airport shortly before 6am yesterday to be greeted by a frenzied mob of supporters, eager to catch a rare glimpse of their heroes.

United are being paid more than £1 million to play in a testimonial match in honour of Sami Al Jaber, Saudi Arabia’s equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo, this evening, but Gill has denied that money is the motivating factor behind the four-day visit and emphasised that the club would not have agreed to the 6,000-mile round trip if they believed that it would jeopardise their pursuit of silverware.

“People can level what they want at us, but we are relaxed about that,” Gill said. “People don’t understand how the decisions are taken at Manchester United. We understand, quite rightly, that what happens on the pitch is the main driver of all our success, so we never make any decision that, in our opinion, will harm the push for honours.”

Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, blamed United’s failure to win the title in the 2004-05 season partly on the summer tour to the United States that preceded it. But with an FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Gill was keen to extol the positives, pointing out that the most recent time the club travelled abroad in January — to Dubai in 2004 — they went on to win the Cup.

“We understand that how the team does in all of the competitions we play — the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League — is critical and we are not going to do anything to harm that,” he said.

What is certain is that United are fêted wherever they go. Tickets for Jaber’s testimonial at the King Fahd Stadium, which is expected to be a 65,000 sell-out, went in three days. If that was not evidence enough of United’s appeal, the sight yesterday morning of streams of cars weaving in and out of the police vehicles escorting the team to their five-star hotel as supporters jostled for pictures surely was. Ryan Giggs, the winger, was even bear-hugged by one overzealous fan upon arriving at the hotel.

Ferguson, who is expected to field a strong team against Al Hilal Al Saudi this evening, has denied suggestions that he made an obscene gesture to Reading fans after Ronaldo scored United’s second goal on Saturday.

“All I was doing was expressing my relief at winning what was one of our hardest matches of the season,” the manager said.

Look out for the logo

Manchester United have defended their decision to allow AIG, the club’s main sponsor, to use its logo on a memorial to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. Although United have endeavoured not to be viewed to be profiting from the anniversary on February 6, they have been criticised for allowing AIG’s name to appear on an enormous tribute photograph outside the East Stand at Old Trafford. In a statement, the club said: “It is entirely appropriate that a partner as closely involved with the club as AIG would want to remember that extraordinary team, cut down in its prime.”