Manchester United's trip to the Far East is looking more and more like a geriatrics outing than a pre-season tour by a Premier League giant.

Apart from having that cripple Michael Owen on board, they have Gary Neville in the squad, presumably to hand out the bingo tickets and collect the raffle money after dishing out the Philosan.

There's no Nemanja Vidic because of injury, and the new boys Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan are mysteriously missing, too.

To top it all, United announce that another scrapheap merchant, Owen Hargreaves, is set to make a comeback in September but may well be tested out in Germany, his adopted home, when United move on from the Far East in a week or so.

It is not a good advert for the new season for the Red Devils, which all makes Manchester City's cheeky new Carlos Tevez ad in the city centre an even shrewder move.

There's a big picture of the Argie turncoat with his arms spread wide in a City shirt above the message, 'Welcome to Manchester!'

Ouch! Bet that hurt, Fergie!

We shall see if Tevez can perform at City. OK, people keep harping on about what he did at West Ham to keep them up, but this is different.

He is now contracted to City. They paid a lot of money for him and will continue to do so in wages, bonuses etc., so he is going to play all the time as long as he is fit. Then we shall measure his goals-per-game ratio and see if he is still running round like Roadrunner on speed and Duracell next April.

City are assembling an impressive squad, though. And if they do get John Terry. that will be the ace in the hole. Roll on August 15.