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Manchester United will move their women’s team into portable buildings at the club’s Carrington training complex next season to allow the men’s squad to use the women’s building while their facilities are being revamped, sources confirmed to ESPN.
A source told ESPN that the decision to move the women’s team into temporary buildings has disappointed the women’s first-team players.
Last summer, the club opened the £10 million ($12.6m) building shared between the women’s and academy teams. It is equipped with a gym and rehabilitation areas, changing rooms, kit and boot rooms as well as a women’s first-team restaurant complete with a live cooking area, analysis and meeting rooms and a players’ lounge.
The Guardian, which first reported the story, said portable buildings will house everyday zones such as the changing rooms, team meeting rooms, office spaces and communal areas for the women’s players and staff. Still, they will use the same pitches and canteen as before.
Renovations began on Monday on a £50 million investment to renovate the men’s first-team building, with the work expected to take the duration of the 2024-25 campaign to complete.
When revealing the £50m investment, the club said: “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.”
News of the intention to move the women’s team to temporary buildings comes after INEOS chairman and United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said the plans for the women’s team are still to be confirmed.
“We haven’t got into that level of detail with the women’s team yet,” he told Bloomberg. “We’ve been pretty much focused on how we resolve the first team issues, and that’s been pretty full time for the first six months.”
When asked if the plans were to be confirmed, Ratcliffe responded, “Correct.”
Sources have told ESPN that United are set to lose one of their most high-profile players in Mary Earps, who has rejected a contract extension with the club, with the England goalkeeper closing in on a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
ESPN’s Rob Dawson contributed to this report