To say that the past year or so has seen change at Manchester United would be a massive understatement, but one thing still caught Rio Ferdinand off guard at the training ground.
Since Ineos completed their partial takeover of the club, they’ve been unapologetic about driving change at Man Utd, on and off the pitch.
Just like the case with every change, some have been welcomed, and others have been opposed, with many ex-players going in on Ineos for stripping the soul away from the club.
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Rio Ferdinand has rarely been that extreme, mostly defending the club in public, but even he’s found one thing ‘weird’ about Man Utd’s training ground when he visits now.
general view of Carrington Training Complex ahead of a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground on October 16, 2025
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Rio Ferdinand on ‘weird’ feeling at Man Utd training ground
One of the changes that has been unanimously welcomed by Man Utd fans, squad, and executives alike is the redevelopment of Carrington.
It was Ineos’ major pilot project since they took over, and many players have praised the redevelopment work, making the training ground an all-around better place to be.
However, that change has come at a cost, since Ineos relieved many people of their duties in the process, leaving the building new, but with a shell of the people who used to work in it.
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For a player who spent more than a decade in a family-like atmosphere cultivated by Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand finds it weird how most of the people he knew have disappeared in that churn.
Speaking on the club’s Inside Carrington podcast, Ferdinand said, “There are some people who you see here who you see more than your own family. It’s difficult not to allow that to flourish into a real friendship.
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“It is weird in a way that when I come in now, it’s only you (podcast hosts Liam Bradford and Helen Evans) that I see that I always saw back then. It is weird in that sense, but you have to understand that football clubs do move on.”
Change was long overdue at Man Utd
People can doubt and question the manner in which Ineos brought about changes at the club, and the lack of sensitivity at times, but nobody can argue that the club was good as it is.
Ruben Amorim and Ineos have both spoken about how the club needed a shock from the inside after being allowed to drift for so long under the Glazers.
The effect of that shock therapy can only be judged after at least five years, mainly when there will be no Glazer era contracts on the books.
In the meantime, Ineos changed the things they could change immediately, which was mostly off the pitch, which Rio Ferdinand alludes to above.
As he recognises himself, football clubs move on. United were guilty of standing still for so long that they fell far behind.
They’re trying to make up that ground, even if the people from the past find it a bit weird now.
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