Man United consider golf courses as potential sites for a new training ground

Manchester United have been teeing up golf courses as potential sites for a new training ground.

Mail Sport understands that club officials – wary of space limitations at the Premier League giants’ current base – have focused on courses in the South Manchester area, and even held preliminary talks with one golf club.

All options remain on the table but the view at United is that a move from Carrington, where they have been situated since 1999, may give them the best option of creating a world-leading facility.

It is understood that any site would need to be a minimum of 100 acres of buildable land to come anywhere near to matching United’s demands.

While there have been regular updates to Carrington, there is an acknowledgement that it is not currently at the elite level enjoyed by rivals such as City and Tottenham.

The belief is that the existing site is at maximum capacity, suffers from a shortage of parking space and that acquiring vast acreage elsewhere may be the best option.

It can be disclosed that talks took place with High Legh Park Golf Club but an agreement was not reached. A woodland course situated in Knutsford, it ticked many boxes, not least because it was close to where many of United’s players live.

High Legh features an 18-hole Championship course, 9-hole course and 24-bay floodlit driving range, along with a golf retail store, clubhouse bar and restaurant. The course was bought by Warrington-based American Golf for £2.7m in 2021 and put up for sale last year.

Sources have disclosed that the situation remains ‘fluid’. One option is to build a new facility and keep Carrington and former base The Cliff, spreading the training operation across various sites. United’s women’s side and academy could, for example,