Manchester United will start a £50m revamp of the men’s first-team building at their Carrington training complex next week, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe stating this will transform it into a “world-class” facility and improve performance.
The project, led by the renowned architect Norman Foster, starts on Monday and is expected to continue throughout next season.
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.”
Foster + Partners reconfigured Wembley stadium and the Lusail Stadium, a venue of Qatar 2022 World Cup.
A club statement said: “The initial focus will be on the gym, medical, nutrition and recovery areas, with a design emphasis on creating more space for collaboration and innovation among players and staff. Temporary adaptations will be made to the rest of the Carrington site to ensure players and staff from all our teams can continue to operate successfully next season.
“This latest phase of development at Carrington follows the opening of the £10m state-of-the-art women’s and academy building last summer – meaning more than £60mn will have been invested in creating a truly integrated facility for our entire football department over the past two years.”
The men’s, women’s and academy teams will remain at Carrington during the renovation. The men will have to be rehoused at some stage, and if they were to take the women’s and academy facilities those teams would have to be moved.
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Lord Foster said of the project: “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.”