MANCHESTER UNITED have stepped up plans for the club’s new youth facilities – to the delight of new academy boss Stephen Torpey.
Torpey was appointed in August to lead all aspects of the club’s development system following the departure of his predecessor Nick Cox, who became ’s technical director.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is investing a significant amount in the Man Utd academyCredit: PA
Ratcliffe recently admitted the quality of the academy facilities has ‘slipped’Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
During Cox’s nine-year stint at Carrington he played a pivotal role in the United academy renaissance, and oversaw an FA Youth Cup triumph in 2022.
Torpey was in the same role at from January 2024, having previously served as head of youth coaching at .
Determined to make United’s academy best-in-class, Torpey sat down for his first interview since taking the role.
The 44-year-old said: “The most important thing is we’ve got a first-team environment right now that is world class. And we’ve got to do the same.
“It’s very good where we are right now. And it’s served us well, but we’ve also got to make something that is world class, innovative and gives us the spaces and the technology that’s going to allow us to do an even better job in the modern era.”
He added: “The innovation for us right now is in facilities, first and foremost. But we’ve got to understand what it is we want to do in the future, and why we want to do it.
“We’ve got some fantastic staff. We’ve got to make sure that they’re not operating with their hands tied behind their backs in the modern development landscape.
“So that’s important for us now, to look at that, to evaluate and then execute on a fantastic new facility that’s going to help us sustain our work for the long term and for the next 10, 15, 20 years’ worth of youth development at this football club.
“Hopefully that will help us support more players into the first team.”
Last month, United announced Carrington’s academy building will be redeveloped in line with the “leading standards” they have for ‘s squad.
Torpey, with director of football Jason Wilcox, will be tasked with establishing what the new academy facility should look like and will formulate the required budget.
SunSport revealed that but the neglectful nature of the youth facilities.
Minority owner forked out on the new men’s building, after the club opened up £10m facilities for the women’s side in 2023.
Until the academy building is complete, in the car park, while others are moving into a two-story building that was previously the women’s home.
Prior to work starting on the men’s renovations in summer 2024, the kids teams had their own ground floor dressing room close to the first team.
Academy boss Stephen Torpey has high ambitions for the club’s youth setupCredit: Getty
There was also a treatment room located close to the one used by the senior squad and the two groups would share social areas – including the canteen.
However, sources said a football decision was taken that their stars of the future are better served by not sharing facilities.
Torpey began his youth coaching career with in 2008, working as a lead foundation coach across multiple age groups before joining City in 2014.
City’s Etihad Campus offers state-of-the-art facilities for the club’s emerging talent on the same footprint as the first team.
Among those to come through the youth system and be successfully integrated into senior football under Torpey are , and , with the latter two leaving the club to join and Nottingham Forest respectively.
Torpey expressed his pride after Carlos Forbs made his senior debut this week, featuring as a substitute in the 9-1 qualifier victory against Armenia.
Forbs, 21, is now at Club Brugge but was a highly-rated prospect at City from 2015 to 2023.
