Manchester United announce £50m investment into Carrington for 'world-class' changes
Man Utd have announced plans for significant investment into Carrington as Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes further improvements.
Manchester United have unveiled plans to spend £50million on improvements at Carrington.
United will modernise the men’s first-team building at Carrington and all areas will be refurbished to deliver a 'world-class football facility with a positive culture to support future success'.
The refurbishment will begin next week and architectural firm Foster & Partners, which is led by Manchester-born Norman Foster, have been appointed to lead the project.
The firm has a history of designing football stadiums and arenas. They were responsible for the reshaping of Wembley Stadium and the design of the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
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The renovation work is expected to be ongoing for the duration of the 2024/25 season and the initial focus will be on the gym, medical, nutrition and recovery areas for the players.
United have said the design will place an emphasis on creating more space for collaboration and innovation among players and staff. The club have also confirmed temporary adaptations will be made to the rest of the Carrington site to ensure players and staff from all teams can continue to operate successfully next season, which will be Erik ten Hag's third year in charge.
United invested £10m to create a state-of-the-art women’s and academy building last summer and once the refurbishment of the men's building is complete, the spending will total £60m.
Club sources have indicated the £50m will be drawn from the $300m fund that Sir Jim Ratcliffe committed for infrastructure as part of his acquisition of a minority stake.
Ratcliffe said: “We want to create a world-class environment for our teams to win. When we conducted a thorough review of the Carrington training facilities and met with our men’s first-team players, it was clear the standards had fallen below some of our peers.
"This project will ensure Manchester United’s training ground is once more renovated to the highest standards. Lord Foster, a fellow Mancunian, has brought some great inspiration to the design, in conjunction with the Manchester United team and we look forward to seeing the improvement to the facilities but most importantly on the pitch.”
Architect Lord Foster said: “We are delighted to lead the renewal of Manchester United’s training facility in Carrington. Our aim is to modernise and revitalise the building as a catalyst for future footballing success, creating spaces that inspire a culture of collaboration, unity and belonging.
“As a proud Mancunian, it is a particular honour for me to see Foster & Partners given this responsibility and we will ensure that our design captures the spirit of industry, grit and ambition that exemplifies both Manchester and Manchester United.”
United moved from The Cliff to Carrington in 2000 and the training ground was a world-class facility two decades ago, but it's fallen behind other facilities in recent years.
The club have explored the possibility of buying nearby farming land to expand Carrington but could encounter issues with building football pitches on soil used for food production.
Cristiano Ronaldo publicly criticised Carrington in his interview with Piers Morgan in 2022. “Nothing changes. Not only the jacuzzi, the pool, even the gym. Even some points of technology, the kitchen, the chefs - who I appreciate, lovely people," he said."They stop in time, which surprised me a lot. I thought I would see different things: technology, infrastructure. Unfortunately, we see many things I’m used to seeing when I’m 21, 22, 23. It surprised me a lot.”