Man Utd's £50m revamped training ground has its own barbers

Times

17-07-2025

Manchester United's new £50million training ground, complete with its own barbers, is set to open next month when Ruben Amorim's squad return from their pre-season tour to the United States.
Amorim and his players have been using the facilities of the academy teams over the past year because the two-tier first team building at their Carrington training ground has been gutted and refurbished based on plans drawn up by the architects Foster + Partners, who have also designed a proposed new 100,000-seat stadium for the club.
United are yet to publicly reveal images of the facility, but The Times has been told that the ground floor of the building, which can only be accessed by first-team players and support staff, contains state-of-the-art equipment designed to help performance.
Upstairs, there will be a recreational area for players to relax and they can also have their hair cut in a specifically-designed barbers room, which has a number of seats and hair-cutting equipment. It is believed to be the first training ground in the country with a dedicated barbers.
It remains to be seen whether United will employ their own barber or allow players to bring in their own. In recent years, some hair stylists have become famous on social media for cutting players' hair at their multimillion-pound mansions.
The idea behind having a barbers, a top-class canteen and other recreational areas at Carrington is to persuade the players to stay at the facility for longer, and not dash off home as soon as training is over.
Ineos, the club's minority shareholders, commissioned Foster + Partners, led by Norman Foster, the Manchester architect, to build a complex that would create a better environment for underperforming players, as they look to climb the Premier League table after a disappointing 15th-placed finish last season.
Sir Dave Brailsford, the Ineos sporting director and right-hand man of the United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, had a significant input into the project, visiting similar facilities at American football teams. Collette Roche, United's chief operating officer, was in overall charge of the project.
On the ground level, a flow system has been introduced that means the players visit the changing rooms, gym, pool, and medical and massage areas in the right order before they head out on to the pitches for their training session — Liverpool's training ground has been designed in a similar manner. State-of-the-art cryogenic chambers have been installed at Carrington and gym facilities have been upgraded.
After returning to the club in 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo pointed out that the swimming pool at Carrington was the same one he used during his first spell at United, from 2003-09. Senior figures felt the criticism was harsh, but Ineos accepted that the pool needed improvement and it has been remodelled as part of the revamp.
Windows have been installed in the corridor on the bottom floor because staff complained the areas were dark and dingy. Some likened the corridors to those in a hospital.
Another of Ineos's gripes centred on the fact that there were so many offices on the second floor of the building, so the new building is open plan, which is designed to improve collaboration between departments.
Some senior members of departments other than football, such as commercial, will be transferred from Old Trafford to Carrington. The idea is that the training ground will become the club's base of operations.
After buying a 27.7 per cent stake in United for £1.3billion last year, Ratcliffe, the Ineos chairman, vowed to spend an additional £237million on infrastructure.
In 2023, the club opened the £10million building shared between the women's and academy teams, which has been the temporary home of Amorim's squad during works to the first-team building.
Carrington was a modern complex when United moved there in 2000 after leaving their former training ground, The Cliff, but it has looked tired of late, which is why some staff thought Ronaldo had a point when he said that it had 'stopped in time' after his return to United.
Those behind the revamp acknowledged that United had fallen behind the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, who have all opened hugely impressive training grounds in recent years.
Workers are now putting the finishing touches to the building and it is expected to be open and ready for Amorim's squad when they return from their three-match tour to the US on August 4. Five days later, they play their final pre-season friendly of the summer against Fiorentina at Old Trafford.