Man United Confidential: Extreme weather threatens to blow pre-season plans off course, Lord Coe looks to drum up investment in £2bn Old Trafford rebuild, and a date is set for Carrington's reopening
Ruben Amorim and his players avoided a torrential storm after training in Chicago on Thursday, but more wild weather across the eastern US forced United's flight from the city's O'Hare International Airport to New York to be delayed by two hours on Friday evening.
United touched down in White Plains just before 10pm and transferred to their hotel in New Jersey ahead of Saturday's opening tour game against West Ham at the MetLife Stadium.
At least Amorim and the squad were able to rest up in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Chicago while they waited for the flight to be rescheduled, and took off very shortly after arriving at the airport.
Reporters covering the tour were not so lucky and some didn't arrive in New York until the early hours of Saturday due to the storms, while others were re-routed around the weather system as far south as Nashville which added more than an hour to their journey.
At least the forecast for Saturday is sunny and dry which means there should be no problems when United meet the Hammers in the Premier League Summer Series straight after Bournemouth take on Everton at the same venue.
Coe's pitch to US investors
The United team might only be spending 24 hours in the New York/New Jersey area, but that hasn't stopped the club from seizing an opportunity to wow potential investors in the £2billion Old Trafford rebuild.
While the squad were preparing to fly to the Big Apple from Chicago, Lord Coe and club executives were attending a conference hosted by the British Consulate-General at Rockefeller Plaza on Friday afternoon called The Placemaking: Investing in Sports Real Estate in the UK.
Although United are confident of securing public funding for the wider regeneration of the area around Old Trafford, private investment will be needed to fund the new 100,000-seater stadium itself.
Lord Coe, who has led the stadium taskforce and is now chair-designate of the Mayoral Development Corporation set up to drive the project, and United chief operating officer Collette Roche addressed an audience of Wall Street investment banks and US financiers.
United have taken inspiration from a number of American sports projects in their planning for what Sir Jim Ratcliffe envisions as the 'Wembley of the North' – not least the magnificent SoFi Stadium in LA and Chicago Bears' Burnham Park development.
United chiefs are set to meet with the Bears next week once the team return to Chicago ahead of their second game against Bournemouth at Soldier Field.
Date set for Carrington re-opening
Old Trafford isn't the only rebuilding project under Ratcliffe's minority ownership. The club's Carrington training complex has undergone a £50m redevelopment and will officially re-open its doors at an opening ceremony on August 8.
The upgrade has taken a year to complete and is aimed at providing a more elite environment for training and recovery. It has been finished ahead of schedule and will open 11 days before United kick off the new season at home to Arsenal.
The first-team have continued to train at the women's and academy facility – as they did throughout much of last season – and use a gym set up on the indoor pitches, but they will shortly return to their redeveloped headquarters.
Insiders tell Confidential that the women and youth teams will also benefit from the improvements made to their base while the men have been in situ.
Focus on camera duo
Job security has been in short supply since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos took over the day-to-day running of United, with no fewer than 450 redundancies to date.
So it was refreshing to see camera operators Noel Grice and Keith Rheade celebrate 25 years of working for the club on Friday as captain Bruno Fernandes spent some time after training at Soldier Field to congratulate them on their achievement.
The pair started in the same week a quarter of a century ago in 2000 and are still going strong on the club's pre-season tour.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Ronny Mauricio (4 hits), Mets sweep series at Giants
July 28 - Ronny Mauricio and Juan Soto homered in the seventh inning to tie and untied a seesaw affair, reliever Gregory Soto made a splashy debut for his new team and the New York Mets completed a three-game road sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 5-3 victory on Sunday night. Matt Chapman homered twice for the Giants, who trailed both 1-0 and 2-1 early on but later took a 3-2 lead into the seventh. Mauricio, who earlier had singled, doubled and driven in a run, greeted All-Star reliever Randy Rodriguez (3-2) with a second-pitch home run to draw the Mets even at 3-3. The homer was Mauricio's fifth of the season. Rodriguez then struck out Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor, before lefty Juan Soto went the other way with a solo shot, his 25th, to give the Mets the lead for good. Acquired Friday from the Baltimore Orioles, Gregory Soto was handed the ball for his Mets debut in the last of the seventh and responded with a 1-2-3 run through the top of the Giants' order, striking out Heliot Ramos and getting two groundouts. The Giants stranded a pair in the eighth, then, down by two, loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Edwin Diaz before the Mets closer struck out Willy Adames and Chapman to close out his 23rd save and New York's seventh straight win. Mauricio's fourth hit, another double, combined with a following double by Nimmo to give the Mets their insurance run in the top of the ninth. The four-hit and two-doubles efforts were the first of Mauricio's career. Chapman drove in all three runs for the Giants with his two homers, Nos. 15 and 16 on the year. His first drew the hosts even at 1-1 in the fourth, before his second, a two-run shot, gave the Giants their 3-2 lead in the fifth. Both homers came off Mets starter Kodai Senga, who allowed three runs and four hits in five innings. He walked five and struck out three. Jose Butto (3-1), who pitched a scoreless sixth, was credited with the win. San Francisco used seven pitchers in a bullpen game. Left-hander Matt Gage made the most of his opening role, taking down the Mets 1-2-3 in the first in his first major league start in 26 career games with four different teams since 2022. Francisco Alvarez had two hits and scored twice for the Mets, who out-hit the Giants 12-6. Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte also had a pair of hits. Adames had two hits for the Giants, who went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position to finish the series 0-for-23. --Field Level Media
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Risk boost from US-EU trade deal of little help to rupee as outflows persist
MUMBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is expected to open little changed on Monday, with any support from improved risk sentiment after a trade deal between the European Union (EU) and the U.S. likely to be capped by persistent foreign portfolio outflows. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated the rupee will open in the 86.48-86.51 range versus the U.S. dollar, compared with Friday's close of 86.5150. Global stocks rose and the euro firmed after the weekend deal between the EU and the U.S., which set the import tariff on most EU goods at 15% - half the rate initially threatened. Asian currencies traded mixed, while the dollar index was at 97.6. The U.S.-EU trade pact is expected to reduce trade-related uncertainty in a week dominated by central bank policy decisions and the U.S.'s August 1 deadline for trading partners to strike deals. Washington has already signed similar framework accords with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, India's trade minister told Reuters last week that the country is also hopeful of reaching a deal with the U.S. that includes "special and preferred treatment". Alongside these, monetary policy meetings in the U.S., Japan and other economies will be in focus this week. While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep rates unchanged, ANZ said it will watch for "tweaks to the language" in the Fed's statement and Chair Jerome Powell's comments for clues on possible rate cuts in September. Over the week, traders expect the rupee to hover between 86.20 and 86.80-86.90, with a slight depreciation bias given the persistent outflows from local stocks. Foreign investors have net sold Indian equities worth about $750 million so far in July, reversing three months of inflows. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 86.63; onshore one-month forward premium at 13.25 paise ** Dollar index at 97.67 ** Brent crude futures up 0.4% at $68.7 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.39% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $231.1mln worth of Indian shares on July 24 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $55.2mln worth of Indian bonds on July 24
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Man Utd transfer news: Red Devils on ‘alert' for major hijack as bombshell move made
Manchester United have already spent heavily this summer but the Red Devils' work in the transfer market looks far from finished with deals for Gianluigi Donnarumma and Idrissa Gueye Manchester United have spent heavily this summer as Ruben Amorim attempts to get the side back on track. Matheus Cunha became the Red Devils' first summer signing a few months ago. And he was very quickly followed by another big-name arrival as United chiefs finally got a £71m deal for Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo over the line. But Amorim's side might not be totally finished there. A striker and a new goalkeeper are among the players that they could move for in the remainder of the window. But with three weeks to go until their Premier League opener against Arsenal, they need to get a move on. Away from incomings, a few more exits might also be on the agenda. Marcus Rashford has already completed a loan move to Barcelona, while Antony, Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho could all still leave. With all of that being said, take a look at all of the latest transfer news and rumours from Old Trafford. United on 'alert' for Donnarumma Manchester United are keeping a close eye on developments surrounding Gianluigi Donnarumma's future at PSG. Talks over a new contract for the Italian goalkeeper have come to a standstill over recent weeks, and it appears that the French giants are ready to move on. According to L'Equipe, they are in talks with Ligue 1 rivals Lille regarding a deal for Lucas Chevalier, who is seen as a replacement for Donnarumma. And that has seen a couple of Premier League sides sit up and take notice. Manchester United have a long-term interest in the former AC Milan man, while Manchester City are also eyeing him as a possible replacement for Ederson should he decide to leave the Etihad. Red Devils plot Brentford hijack Manchester United could be set to frustrate Brentford more after their protracted move for Bryan Mbeumo. According to The Sun, they are going head-to-head with the Bees for the signing of Metz teenager Idrissa Gueye. The youngster caught the eye in Ligue 2 last season, scoring five goals in 17 appearances. United see him as one for the future, while Brentford would offer him first-team football straight away. Man United have already been left annoyed by Brentford's actions this summer during their talks regarding forward Bryan Mbeumo. Amorim confirms Mbeumo plan Speaking of United's recent signing, boss Ruben Amorim has confirmed that Mbeumo is not quite ready to make his debut for the Red Devils yet. He said: 'Bryan is starting slowly. "He is not going to play in the next one. We hope to have Bryan in the last game [in the United States]. He's training now, so we'll see." Mbeumo's £71m move to Old Trafford was finally confirmed last week. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
