Manchester United's women's team have reportedly been placed into portable buildings to make way for the men's squad to use the women's building while the men's first team facilities are revamped.
A £50million project to refurbish United's Carrington Training Complex began on Monday. The project is the latest move from new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has been vocal about driving up standards at United and said the training ground's facilities "had fallen below some of our peers".
The club announced on 14 June that all areas of the men's building were “being refurbished to deliver a world-class football facility with a positive culture to support future success”. The project is expected to last for the duration of the 2024-25 season.
The development arrives after last summer's £10million women’s and academy building was opened on the Carrington site.
And with the men's facilities set to be off limits, the Guardian have reported that United are planning on giving United's men's team priority access to the state-of-the-art facilities. Portable buildings will reportedly be erected to accommodate the women's teams, with changing rooms, team meeting rooms, office spaces and communal areas for the women's players and staff.
World Cup hero wants Man Utd move as doubts over Harry Maguire's future grow
Approached for comment, United said that relocating teams to an "alternative facility...was ruled out for performance reasons", citing Carrington's superior pitches, fitness and nutrition facilities. The club insisted "core facilities" will remain available to "all our teams" and that the "scale and ambition of the project will deliver huge long-term benefits for all our teams".
The women's team -- who lifted their first major piece of silverware since the team's re-launch in 2018 after they defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup final -- will use the same pitches and canteen as before. Other club staff members had already been warned before the end of the season that work patterns would be disrupted.
The report arrives after Ratcliffe, who is in charge of football policy, admitted in an interview with Bloomberg that detailed plans for United's women's team are "to be confirmed", with focus on the "first team", a choice of words that has caused upset in many quarters.
“We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues, in that environment, and that’s been pretty full-time for the first six months,” the INEOS CEO said.
Mary Earps' future at Manchester United looks uncertain (2024 AMA Sports Photo Agency)Off the field, reports have claimed a lack of clarity for those running United's women's team, as well as claims of a slipshod investment and resources from players and coaching staff. United lost two of its star players in Alessia Russo and Ona Batlle on free transfers last summer, with reports suggesting that the protracted nature of the negotiations coupled with an unconvincing long-term plan for the team played roles in their decisions.
Goalkeeper Mary Earps is believed to be also departing this summer in a major blow to United. Earps stated last month that any decision on her future hinged on United's hierarchy providing assurances that the women's team was a priority for the new minority ownership group.
Earps was reportedly offered a more lucrative package to remain at United, but the promise of competing for trophies with PSG proved critical in her decision. The Mirror understands Nikita Parris is another player not potentially destined to leave.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
