While frenzied discussions over the future of Wayne Rooney and possible transfer targets swirled around the Internet, it was business as usual for Manchester United on their lucrative trip to Australia on Wednesday.
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After training, most of the squad opted for a round of golf, whale watching on the Pacific Ocean or a trip to Sydney's Taronga Zoo as they continue the build-up to Saturday's second match of their pre-season tour.
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That the match, against an A-League All Star XI captained by Brett Emerton, is already an 84 000 sell-out is testament to the interest the English champions have attracted on their first visit to Australia since 1999.
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In fact, with 17 000 of the 20 000 tickets available to watch United's training session on Friday already snapped up, a bigger crowd was expected for that than most games in the powerhouse National Rugby League (NRL), a Football Federation Australia (FFA) spokesman pointed out.
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There were slim pickings for die-hard United fans keen to make the most of the presence of their heroes in Sydney on Wednesday, however, but a couple of hundred got the chance to meet Rio Ferdinand at a book shop.
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The price of the meeting was the A$40 ($36.93) purchase of a copy of the central defender's new book "Rio, my decade as a Red" and the red-shirted fans were more than happy to pay it.
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"It's fantastic to see the fans getting the chance to meet the players and so on," said Mark O'Connor, chairman of the Manchester United Supporters Club New South Wales, clutching his copy.
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"I'm not getting much sleep at the moment ... it shows the rest of the world that Man U is as big Down Under as it is on the other side."
Manchester United might not necessarily win the EPL next season...But let's just see them play good football. That's all I ask for