Manchester United to start training ground refurbishment to modernise facilities

Manchester United staff have been told to vacate workspaces at Carrington ahead of a summer refurbishment running into next season to modernise the club’s “stopped in time” training base.

Cristiano Ronaldo used the damning phrase to describe United’s headquarters when he departed last season and new co-owners Ineos, overseen by marginal gains-driven Sir Dave Brailsford, are pushing ahead with a summer upgrade.

Staff at Carrington are braced for disruption to their working day with upgrading the main building of the training ground due to start. They have been informed to pack up before going away on summer holiday, even if final parts of planning permission are to be confirmed.

United are due back ahead of their pre-season tour to the USA in mid-July and players will be able to use the pitches at Carrington while work is being undertaken.

Some staff will work in different areas of the training ground and others relocated to sites such as Old Trafford, which adds to the changes since Ineos’s investment, which includes an end to their flexible work-from-home policy.

The Carrington refurbishment is one of the significant changes since Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos’s owner, invested in United. He paid £1.03 billion for a quarter shareholding plus an additional £237 million to spend on infrastructure which is part of the training base upgrade.

Opened in 2000, United’s training base has been criticised for not being modernised while other clubs have opened state-of-the-art facilities, with Manchester City building their Etihad Campus with places for players to sleep before and after games if needed. Carrington replaced The Cliff, 14 miles away, which was United’s training base since the 1930s.

Upon leaving United in 2022 for Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo described Carrington as “stopped in time”. “Nothing changed, surprisingly. Not only the pool, the jacuzzi, even the gym. Even the kitchen, the chefs, whom I appreciate – lovely people. They stopped in time. It surprised me a lot,” he said.

“I thought I would see other things, technologies, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, we see a lot of what I used to see at 21, 22, and 23 years old. It really surprised me.”

While the refurb will cause disruption in the short term, it is seen at the club as worth it for the long-term gains as United will see significant improvements to their facilities. The main focus will be on the men’s first-team building, which follows £11 million investment in the Women’s and Academy facilities last summer.

United’s facilities could end up improving their terrible injury record this season, with the club at the top of the table with the number of separate injuries at a staggering 45. The plans lodged with Trafford Council include a new ‘pre-activation and player performance’ zone for work before main training sessions.

City manager Pep Guardiola explained on the eve of the FA Cup that United’s big problem has been injuries and they should get to the bottom of the problem.

“When we talk about the group and organisation, every department pushes each other to do better. All big teams, when you have this infrastructure, depends on the club not me. You can’t survive,” said Guardiola.

“You can have a lot of tactics but if you don’t have the players, what can you do? I’m naked in that moment. This is the truth.”

United’s design and access statement details their plans for the new areas and changes to the main building. They will have also proposed “additional planting” so training cannot be seen from their car park.

In his interview with Dutch publication VI, United manager Erik ten Hag said: “INEOS will change things in the club and certain projects have already started. Carrington will get completely destroyed, a new training ground will come.”