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A former Manchester United player has compared the standard of the club’s training ground to that of a League One team.
Charlie Savage, who joined third-tier side Reading from Manchester United in the summer on a free transfer, intended the comparison as a compliment for his new club, but brutally highlights the lack of investment in infrastructure at the Red Devils in recent years.
After signing his first professional contract at Manchester United in 2021, Savage went on to make just one senior appearance for his boyhood side. Despite that, though, the 20-year-old trained at United’s Carrington training ground everyday before making the switch to Berkshire in the summer.
“Reading’s training ground- I heard it was good but I didn’t realise it was this good,” Savage told Reading’s official YouTube channel.
“Honestly, I’d say it’s on par with United at the minute.”
Since Manchester United moved to Carrington from The Cliff in 2000, the club have been criticised for their lack of investment in continuously improving the facilities. £25m was spent on a new medical and sports science facility in 2013, but little else has changed.
Cristiano Ronaldo, most notably, highlighted this issue during his explosive interview with Piers Morgan in 2022. The Portuguese forward claimed that, during the 12 years between leaving the club in 2009 and re-joining in 2021, nothing about the training facilities had changed.
“Nothing changed, surprisingly,” Ronaldo said. “Not only the pool, the jacuzzi, even the gym. Even the kitchen, the chefs, whom I appreciate – lovely people. They stopped in time. It surprised me a lot.
“I thought I would see other things, technologies, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, we see a lot of what I used to see at 21, 22, and 23 years old. It really surprised me.”
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