United spent £50m renovating the first team’s training facility, which opened in August. However, there is concern that the investment in Ruben Amorim’s side has come at the expense of the academy. Staff are working in prefabricated structures in the players’ car park, while a report in The Athletic in October revealed that academy staff and first team analysts have to wash their own kit. A shortage of staff led to the under 13s not having enough socks and shorts for a match against Everton earlier this season, leading to the players having to wear Everton kit.
Ratcliffe was less than complimentary about the academy in a recent interview with The Times’ The Business podcast. “The academy has really slipped at Manchester United,” he said. “You need the academy to be producing talent all the time. It helps you financially. That’s not a light switch. You don’t solve the academy problem overnight. It takes time. We just recruited a new academy director.”
According to The Sun, those comments did not go down well with parents of young academy players. One of them told the newspaper: “Sir Jim’s comments don’t represent what parents think of the club. All it has done is unsettle some of the boys and their parents. He might even find that what he’s said means some families start to wonder if their child’s future would be best served at another club. His comments aren’t helpful and are confusing as most are happy at United. They have access to great pitches, the changing rooms are fantastic. They have opened a new parents’ lounge, and the boys can use the state-of-the-art facilities that the first team use for gym and rehab.
“It’s quite the contrast from Sir Jim’s comments. The majority of the parents have said that Sir Jim seems to have his own agenda, which does not align with what is really happening. The coaches try to be upbeat and put a brave face on, but you can tell that Sir Jim’s comments have hurt them. They don’t understand what he’s talking about.”
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