The English Premier League champions have seen their plans rocked by the bombs in Jakarta.

United were due to play an Indonesian Super League XI on Monday but were forced to cancel the game following Friday's terrorist strike.

Football Federation Australia extended an invitation to United with efforts made to host a game on Australian soil.

However, those efforts appear to be in vain with United opting against the move.

"We were planning to pull out all the stops for it to happen as it would have been an attractive fixture for fans and for Sydney FC or Melbourne," FFA Director of Communications Bonita Mersiades told AAP.

"However, their commitments meant the game could only be played on Monday, which we were willing to organise, but there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing on their side so unfortunately it wasn't possible."

The move had some merit given United are extremely popular Down Under and the Red Devils would have been assured of a rapturous reception, as well as an estimated £1million to play at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

However, the extra travel - it would have meant a nine-hour flight to Sydney and then 11 hours up to Seoul, where United are set to play on Friday - made it a non-starter given they are heading back to Europe straight after a game on the Sunday in China.