United will play Borussia Dortmund but it is a glamorous friendly date with City and their new manager Pep Guardiola in Beijing on July 25 that has sent their commercial department into over-drive.
But a promotional video lasting nearly 60 seconds omits Van Gaal completely, despite showing glimpses of former stars such as Eric Cantona and George Best and no fewer than 14 current first-team players.
Over the past two summers, similar releases have seen Van Gaal figure prominently and his absence from this edition will simply fuel speculation that a decision has already been taken to dispense with his services at the end of the campaign.
Certainly City have made no secret of their wish to "unveil" new manager Guardiola in China, a country which is being viewed increasingly as an untapped source of vast revenue for Premier League clubs.
And with speculation mounting that Jose Mourinho has been lined up to replace Van Gaal, the potential of him in charge of United going head-to-head with Guardiola at a packed Olympic Stadium in Beijing will have the clubs' marketing chiefs in a spin.
The Chinese tour video featured prominently on United's official website last night and the timing of the "snub" is particularly cruel, coming as it does on the back of an impressive derby victory.
And Van Gaal's mood will not have been helped with news coming out of the Germany camp that veteran midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has suffered a knee injury which may end his season.
The 31-year-old former Bayern star is to undergo scans in Munich to assess the damage which he sustained, worryingly, while making an innocuous pass in training and without contact with another player.
With a ligament problem routinely taking six weeks to heal, it would appear Schweinsteiger's season is at an end.
Germany manager Joachim Low claimed the problem is "likely" to be a recurrence of the same injury Schweinsteiger sustained playing for United in a January FA Cup tie against Sheffield United and which sidelined him for 13 games.
Low said: "He was injured at the end of training without any other involvement, while playing a pass.
"It is likely to be the ligament which he had injured a few weeks ago. He is being checked out in Munich at the moment so I am not able to give an exact diagnosis but it does not look positive."
Meanwhile, United midfielder Juan Mata insists he would welcome Zlatan Ibrahimovic if the controversial Paris St-Germain striker were to move to United this summer.
The larger-than-life Sweden international is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a possible move to the Premier League.
Mata said: "Maybe he tries a new chapter in his long career. He was in so many countries and so many leagues and he's won trophies everywhere. That speaks about his qualities as a player.
"He's a very good player and I like to play with very good players. I don't decide that, he decides that and the club decides. But obviously I think every player would be happy to play with him."
Meanwhile, United could be hit with a UEFA charge after the governing body announced it was investigating reports of illicit chanting in their Europa League clash against Liverpool.
