Man Utd step up plans to expand Old Trafford & Carrington

Manchester United are set to appoint master planners as they begin to step up the modernisations of both Old Trafford and their Carrington training ground.

Redevelopments of Old Trafford have been on the table for a good few years now, with the Covid-19 outbreak obviously slowing things down dramatically, but United have been keen to get the process started again this year,

“Initial meetings have taken place with a number of architectural and engineering companies to present their credentials as key partners in the project," chief executive Collette Roche told a fans forum (via The Athletic).

“These meetings have produced exciting potential ideas, although important to note that we’re still at an early stage and it’s premature to talk about timetables.

“We have an open mind about the best approach and scope of work. The next step will be for us to appoint master planners.”

Roche revealed that plans for Carrington are 'further down the track', with United hopeful of creating a fully integrated home for the men's, women's and academy sides.

At the forum, director John Murtough was also asked about the decision to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and bring in Ralf Rangnick as his temporary replacement.

"As a club we felt Ole had earned the right to be given chance to turn things round, but didn’t get a reaction after international break," Murtough said. "The Watford game made it clear change was needed.

“We’re all disappointed at Ole’s departure but he deserves to be judged on his record over the past three years not his last few weeks. He secured our first back-to-back top-three finishes since Sir Alex [Ferguson] retired and was close to winning silverware. He re-set the club’s culture.

“Out of respect for Ole we did not approach other managers before he left. Our plan then was to appoint an experienced interim manager. Ralf was our clear first choice. He’s someone I have admired for a long time, we’re delighted he’s here.

“By bringing in Ralf we can now take time to run a thorough process for our next permanent manager. Recruiting a manager is one of the most important decisions a football club makes so we want to do it in a careful and considered fashion.”