Fed up with the deterioration of facilities at Carrington Stadium, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering changing the training ground for Man United.
At the end of December last year, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed the acquisition of 25% of Man United’s shares, officially controlling all of the Red Devils’ football activities. It seems that the British businessman will immediately pour money into Man Utd to buy people, but it is likely that his first contract at Old Trafford will be a new training ground for the club.
Specifically, Daily Mail said, Jim Ratcliffe believes that the Carrington training area is out of use and wants a new location with larger space. The 71-year-old billionaire has held negotiations to buy High Legh golf club in Knutsford, South Manchester area. After completing the deal, Jim Ratcliffe will renovate High Legh’s golf course into a training ground for Man United.
According to the Daily Mail, this golf course meets all the criteria that Sir Jim Ratcliffe needs such as being over 400 square meters wide and located near the area where Man Utd players live, in Cheshire county. In addition, High Leg’s yard also has lights, bars or restaurants inside. If the deal is completed, it is likely that the Red Devils’ first team will practice here, while the youth team and women’s team will still practice at Carrington.
In 2021, American Golf Group bought this golf course for 2.7 million pounds and put it up for sale last year. This is probably not a big amount of money for Jim Ratcliffe, but the problem is that it is unclear whether he or the Glazer family will pay for moving all the equipment from Carrington to the new training ground. If this deal is completed, Man United’s new training area will not be under the complete control of both Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family.
The issue of Carrington’s deterioration has been mentioned a lot since Cristiano Ronaldo criticized the facilities of this training area in an interview with Piers Morgan at the end of 2022. According to the Portuguese striker, Carrington Nothing has changed since the first period he played for the club (2003-2009).