Manchester United have “no excuses” in their bid to get back to the top of English and European football, according to Diogo Dalot, after the club opened their new £50 million ($67.2m) training centre.
The first-team building at Carrington re-opened on Friday after a year-long project driven by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Speaking at the opening, Ratcliffe likened the old facility to “a hospital.”
The 72-year-old branded the new training centre as “world class” and Dalot, one of Ruben Amorim’s new six-man leadership team, said it’s now up to the players to produce performances to match.
“I think finally we’re getting to a level where this club deserves and now it’s up to us, on the pitch, to also match that standard,” said Dalot.
“If we’re talking about a club like Man United, we should have the best facilities in the world. The big thing that I like the most is now there’s going to be no excuses.”
Cristiano Ronaldo was critical of United’s training ground after returning to the club in 2021.
He said “nothing changed” in the 12 years since his departure to Real Madrid in 2009 and that the club had “stopped in time.”
“I’m sure he would love it if he would be able to see it,” said Dalot when asked about Ronaldo’s comments made just before he left for Al Nassr in 2022.
“But overall I think the message was clear that this club deserved even more and all credit to Sir Jim and his team.”
The revamped building — originally opened in 2000 — includes a high-altitude chamber, sleep pods, a padel court, Formula 1 simulator and a barber’s room for players to bring in their own hairdresser.
Dalot was one of the first players to make use of the room, which has a red and blue barber’s pole attached outside.
There are also areas for red light therapy, dry floatation, as well as oxygen and cryotherapy chambers.
“The club has to compete at the highest level that is appropriate to the size and history of the club,” said Ratcliffe.
“While a world class training facility won’t take us to that position alone, it is one of the key ingredients. Now we have one.
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“When I first came to Carrington two years ago, we had a presentation here. It was clear then. It was [cutting edge] I am sure in 2000, but 25 years later it wasn’t quite at the level it needed to be for one of the top four or five clubs in the world.
“It felt like you were in a hospital in the basement. It was a slightly gloomy place, a gloomy rabbit warren. Now it is open, fresh, quite modern. It encourages interaction. That is what we needed.”
United took inspiration from the Los Angeles Rams’ training facility and Leicester City’s state-of-the-art training ground, which cost £100m and opened in 2020.
Amorim and his players also had input in meetings with United COO Collette Roche.
“Tom Heaton spent quite a lot of time at [Football Association training base] St George’s Park so I was saying ‘what’s the best parts of that and he was explaining the different areas’,” said Roche.
“We’ve got a core, so Bruno [Fernandes], Harry [Maguire], Tom, Diogo and we asked what they wanted and they gave me some great ideas.”
