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Growing up in England, Luke Mulholland lived and died with his beloved Liverpool FC. So the Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen was mostly joking Tuesday when he admonished his midfielder to avoid picking up a red card when Mulholland and RSL host Manchester United — Liverpool's fiercest rival — this summer at Rio Tinto Stadium.

"You can get a yellow," Hansen said with a laugh as he announced his club's friendly with the English giant. "But no red card."

United will play in five U.S. cities this summer as it prepares for the 2017-18 campaign. And RSL officials expect to see some of the world's best when Manchester United comes to Rio Tinto on July 17.

"The contract says they'll bring their greats," Hansen said.

Last year, the RSL owner said he wanted to bring a top-flight European club to Utah each year. The Italian club Inter Milan made a stop in Sandy in 2016; this summer, RSL should get a chance to test its mettle against the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial.

"We know there's a little pressure with that," RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said. "We know the scoreline will go across the world."

United will make stops in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Santa Clara, Calif., where it will face off with Spanish superpower Real Madrid.

While the European clubs tune up on U.S. soil, RSL will be in the heart of its Major League Soccer season. The franchise has, in years past, said it preferred to focus on keeping its players fresh — adopting a "trophies, not friendlies" philosophy — but Beckerman believes there is value in hosting one of Europe's powers.

"Trophies are still the aim, for sure," Beckerman said. "I think these games help us prepare for those. Going against Manchester United, I think, will be big for our confidence if we show well. It gives a lot of guys experience to go up against the best in the world."

Tickets, which will start at $50 apiece, will be made available to RSL season ticket holders on March 28. Sales for the general public will open at a later date.

Hansen said he believed the July 17 match would have sold out if they had hosted it at a larger venue, say Rice-Eccles or LaVell Edwards stadiums.

"We wanted it in our house, on our terms, with our fans," he said.

Mulholland, meanwhile, will take this one for his new team.

"There was a day I was buying those jerseys. Now I have the opportunity to swap jerseys," he said. "I have to swallow my pride for this game and swap jerseys with a Manchester United player. But it's worth doing."

He just has one request for next year: Try to bring in Liverpool.

Twitter: @aaronfalk