Jose Mourinho: This is what I want from Man Utd players on pre-season tour

JOSE MOURINHO believes Manchester United’s pre-season tour of China is as important for the team's dynamic as it is for their football - despite the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

United will face Borussia Dortmund (July 22) and Manchester City (July 25) in two International Champions Cup fixtures.

But the new United boss will not take a full squad to China with Ibrahimovic one of the players missing after his Euro 2016 exertions.

Nevertheless, Mourinho is convinced the trip can provide them with valuable time for some team bonding

"I hope to see a group, from an emotional point of view, coming together and getting to know each other better and understanding each other better,” Mourinho told adidas' Front Row. 

“It’s important from a football point of view, but also from a human qualities point of view, that’s very important.

"The fact that we won’t travel with every player, from a tactical point of view, breaks a little bit the objective of a pre-season tour, but that’s the way it is. 

“We cannot make miracles and the players cannot go directly from the Euros to pre-season. 

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Mourinho will not have Ibrahimovic alongside him in China

“They need their break and we need them for the next 10 months.

"It will be a bit strange, especially for a new manager that needs to know the players and to work with the players, but I think the pre-season tours are also for the club dimension, the club projection and club connection which, in this case, is the Asian market, commercially and for the fan-base, it’s a lot about that.

"From that perspective, I expect a group that understands the dimension of this club and understands what Man United fans around in the world, in this case Asia, are expecting from us.

"I’ve been to Asia with three different clubs and I know that the fans are completely in love, first of all, with football and, after that, with people. They target individuals and, if the person moves from club to club, they will always follow. 

“For example, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] will have his own fan-base that now become Man United fans too.

"I understood also what Man United means to supporters there when I visited. 

“I was in Bangkok and one of my Asian friends took me to a Man United restaurant where the supporters gather together. 

“I had to wear a different jacket because I was the manager of another club at the time! 

“At the restaurant, the fans gather together every weekend to watch United play and it was easy to understand how big the club is there."