It wasn’t exactly ‘mid-season’ - it was the last week of April. But I know what you‘re saying.
The background to it was that the inaugural season of the J.League was soon to get underway and there was a lot of money being thrown at football in Japan. The powers that be wanted a PL team to go out there for pre-season friendlies to help build up the hype. City were asked to go as we had nothing whatsoever to play for in terms of league position and our remaining fixtures couldn’t impact on any other major issues.
Whether it would happen now with the PL prize money for every win you pick up is another matter.