Manchester United's renovated training base features smart urinals that measure a player's level of hydration, dry flotation tanks, an underwater treadmill, a padel court, a Formula 1 simulator, and even a barber shop.

The project was announced in June last year and is partly financed by the $300m invested in the club by part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

As Sir Alex Ferguson unveiled the plaque at the redeveloped training ground to the long-serving receptionist, Kath Phipps, celebrating “the welcoming heart of Manchester United for 56 years”, the club’s greatest manager recalled how she would sort the letters on his messy desk. One pile of them, Ferguson chuckled, consisted of abusive ones.