Manchester City receive green light for new £10 million training facility | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City have received the green light to move ahead with work on a new multi-million pound training facility, according to reports.

It is the latest redevelopment and continued improvement of Manchester City’s facilities as ambition continues to grow over on the east side of the city, despite their already-outstanding offerings for all areas of their operation.

Manchester City made the move from their original Carrington Training Centre complex to the City Football Academy in 2014, with the development understood to have been based on AC Milan’s Milanello training complex.

Employing local people, procuring building materials from regional companies in the north-west of England, and the addition of over 6000 new trees in east Manchester became centrepieces of the community and were seen as environmental benefits of the development.

Since it’s completion and subsequent usage, Manchester City and their wider academy system has reaped huge rewards, with significant income through player sales of academy talents and the development of now-first team stars such as Rico Lewis and Phil Foden.

But Manchester City appear to be discontent with what they are able to offer their teams, with new plans focussing on their position as a leading club when it comes to the women’s game, and what their Women’s Super League side have to themselves on site.

According to the information of Jack Gaughan, reporting in the latest edition of MailSport’s Man City Notebook, Manchester City have now secured council approval to build a new £10 million training complex for their women’s team.

It is detailed that Gareth Taylor’s WSL-chasing side currently share the City Football Academy with the club’s men’s teams, but construction is set to start on their bespoke facility ahead of the 2024/25 season.

The state-of-the-art project is said to include a hydrotherapy area, high-performance gym and an analytics space, with ‘similarities’ to the resources available to Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City first-team set-up.

Speaking upon Manchester City’s original announcement of the plans for a new women’s training facility, the club’s managing director Charlotte O’Neill said, “We are delighted to announce our exciting plans to create a purpose-built training facility for our Women’s First Team.

“Over the past decade, our shared space at City Football Academy has been a huge asset to the team, providing unrivalled access to world-leading facilities and industry experts that have helped the team to adopt the Club’s philosophies on and off the pitch and establish itself as a pioneer in the development of women’s football in this country.”

O’Neill continued, “However, as the team evolves, so do their needs and that’s why we continue to invest in the right facilities at the right stage in the team’s journey.

“By building in a new, state-of-the-art facility, we will provide our players with a bespoke industry-leading environment for them to train and recover together, and we believe this will further improve player welfare, and help attract even more talent to Manchester City and the next generation of aspiring women footballers.”

Outgoing club captain Steph Houghton was also hugely positive of the developments and continued focus on the women’s set-up, as she explained, “As we look to take the next step in our journey of developing the women’s game, it’s right that we now develop our own purpose-built home, at the heart of City Football Academy, and I’m thrilled the Club has the ambition and commitment to keep investing in our future.”