Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has described the change in schedule for the African Cup of Nations to the summer months as 'fantastic' news for European clubs.

Mourinho was responding to a question from KweséESPN after last night's 1-0 International Champions Cup defeat to Barcelona about the changes in schedule announced by CAF earlier this month.

At first, the United manager was not aware of the change, saying: "I don't know about any changes. I have to read the changes and understand them.

But once it was explained to him, Mourinho was obviously happy: "If that's the change then it's fantastic for us.

"Obviously because it's hard in the middle of the season to lose players like we do and with so many African players playing in the best competitions in Europe it's not good of the clubs, its not good for the competitions and its not good for the players.

"So if you can do that and you manage to do the Africa Cup in the European break, it's fantastic for us."

United lost defender Eric Bailly during a key period of last season when he represented Ivory Coast at the Nations Cup in Gabon.