Ruud van Nistelrooy's strong allegiances with the Dutch national team were the main reason why the free-scoring striker at Old Trafford was forced to turn down an invitation by the Manchester United Supporters Club (MUSC) to visit the island this week and join in the celebrations marking the team's eighth Premiership crown in the past 11 seasons.
The MUSC will mark the occasion with a reception on Friday at the Westin Dragonara Resort.
However, van Nistelrooy, despite being left out of the national team for disciplinary reasons by coach Dick Advocaat, has informed the local supporters club that he will travel to his homeland this week to be with his Holland team-mates ahead of Saturday's match against Moldova.
The Dutch, who will also have to do without van Nistelrooy's attacking partner Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on Saturday, will be seeking to gather confidence ahead of next month's EURO 2004 play-offs as they are sure to finish behind the Czech Republic in Group Three.
Uruguay striker Diego Forlan was also unavailable this week to travel to Malta but new goalkeeper Tim Howard, of the US, defender Wes Brown, still recovering from knee surgery, and upcoming defenders Danny Pugh and Mark Lynch will be here to mix with the Red Army of Maltese United supporters on Friday at the Westin.
The contingent from Old Trafford visiting the island this week will also include top chief scout Martin Ferguson and membership secretary Barry Moorhouse. There will be no Premier League matches in England this weekend with national teams involved in the last round of the Euro Championship qualifying phase.
Tickets for Friday evening's reception have already been on sale from the club. Yesterday, MUSC president Franco Mizzi announced that only a limited number of tickets are still available as the response from the club members has been a strong one yet again.
Mizzi added MUSC is currently pushing for more United supporters to frequent the club and attend the various functions throughout the year. The main goal was still to acquire the premises at Sta Venera on a permanent basis and cater for members more adequately.
To keep the United supporters more acquainted with what is really happening behind the scenes at Old Trafford and promote the various MUSC activities along the season, the organisation has been issuing a magazine - Echoes - for several years now.
Before, this publication was distributed to MUSC members only but as from next week one can also start purchasing a copy of Echoes from leading newsagents at the price of 95 cents. Paying members will still get their copy free of charge.