Joel Glazer’s promise to ‘significantly invest’ in United plunged into doubt after latest report

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It is almost one year since Manchester United fans protested outside Old Trafford. Sparked by the Super League, the protests were the culmination of 16 years of frustration at silence from owners the Glazers.

In response to the protests, the Glazers finally spoke up. Joel Glazer ‘met’ with a selected group of fans via an online forum, and made plenty of promises.

United supporters were sceptical, and seemingly rightly so. It appears the scale of the owners’ ambitions has already hit a wall.

Training ground setback

Among the complaints levelled at the club were that United’s Carrington training base was no longer considered state-of-the-art in comparison to rivals.

Gary Neville was quoted by The Mail, stating: “The training ground is probably not even top five in this country.”

A fresh report this weekend via The Sun claims United have shelved plans to move out of Carrington and build a new training base from scratch.

The report claims United have considered building a new training base at the Tatton Estate in Cheshire, and decided it is too expensive.

The estimated cost of £200 million is too costly for the Glazers, and United will look at other solutions instead.

Quoted by Business Live via United’s fan forum last year, co-owner Joel Glazer said: “We recognise that we will need to significantly increase investment in Old Trafford and our training complex to ensure that the club’s facilities remain among the best in Europe.”

But this particular significant investment appears simply too much for the Glazers.

Instead United will stay at Carrington, and seek to improve the current facilities, at a cheaper cost.

Plans are being drawn up and United will hope for the process to move ahead soon. It just won’t be as seismic a change as it could have been.

There won’t be a single United fan surprised by the Glazers taking the cheaper option, it’s how they operate.

Exactly how much money will be invested remains in doubt, and this also doesn’t bode well for a similar pledge to give Old Trafford the much needed improvements the stadium requires.