Man Utd announced on Monday that they had acquired land to kick on with their plan for a new 100,000-seater stadium.
An impression of what Man United's new stadium could look like
Foster + Partners are designing Man United's new stadium
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Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada was asked about the current situation with the stadium project during his appearance on the club's podcast at the start of the month.
"Hopefully we'll have some news to share in the next weeks or months," he said. "Once we've secured the land and we know the exact location of where the new stadium could be, then we will proceed to finalise the design at the stadium, which will then lead us to have a very good understanding of what the potential cost is."
It seemed like Berrada was kicking the can down the road as talks to acquire the necessary land stalled, but just a few weeks later, United announced they had made a significant breakthrough.
It was not the breakthrough that anyone expected. United had been in talks with Freightliner to acquire the land behind the Stretford End for over a year, but the land purchased is a different plot.
The land has been purchased from Indurent, a leading provider of industrial space and a Blackstone portfolio company. United now have the majority of the land needed for their project and will continue to work on acquiring the remaining land, which is not expected to be a problem.
The land is located approximately 350m north-west of the current stadium. It's a 25-acre triangle, approximately 350m from Old Trafford (located between Wharfside Way, Europa Way and John Gilbert Way).
United thought outside the box to acquire a different plot of land, and the club believes they have obtained a fair deal. United chiefs ultimately deserve credit for getting a deal done so that the plan can move forward.
The project would still be in limbo if talks with Freightliner continued. There was talk last summer of Freightliner wanting £350million for their plot of land, and it became clear with every month that negotiations hadn't gone as hoped.
Andy Burnham suggested compulsory purchase powers could be an option if a breakthrough with Freightliner could not be reached, but that would have involved red tape and would have taken time to get a compulsory order passed.
Man United have aquired the majority of the land in the highlighted plot.
Man United have aquired the majority of the land in the highlighted plot.
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United want the new stadium to be built in time to host the 20235 Women's World Cup. Although that is nine years away, that timeframe started to look unrealistic the longer the impasse with Freightliner continued.
There is still some work to do, as United must acquire all of the land required for the project, but the deal with Indurent is a significant development at a time when supporters were starting to become doubtful.
The wheels of the project can now begin to turn now that the land has been acquired. Foster + Partners had paused their design work, but they can resume their plan to oversee the design of the ambitious 100,000-seater stadium.
The staff who have worked on the deal to buy an alternative plot have been praised from upstairs within United for working in a disciplined, strategic way to get it done cost-effectively.
There is also confidence that Burnham's departure as Greater Manchester mayor will not impact the stadium plans. Burnham was appointed as a member of parliament for Makerfield last week, the first step to replacing Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
Burnham was heavily involved in the Old Trafford regeneration plan. However, United sources have confirmed that stadium plans will be unaffected because the Old Trafford regeneration project is covered by the Mayoral Development Corporation, which has been constituted by parliament.
That means it can only be unpicked by the government. Burnham is about to be in charge of government, and there is more chance of pigs flying than of him undoing his own work as Manchester mayor.
The news on United's new stadium had gone quiet for a while. The real work can now begin.