'We feel we are going to have the money - there's lots of options'
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Manchester United's plans for a new 100,000 seat stadium and wider generation of Old Trafford
Manchester United unveiled its plans this week(Image: Foster + Partners)
Manchester United says it will not be asking for 'public handouts' to help fund the new £2bn stadium it wants to build at Old Trafford.
The club unveiled its vision for the new 100,000-seater stadium on Tuesday (March 11) alongside plans to regenerate the area around it with more than 17,000 new homes. It comes amid a tricky period financially for the club which has lost £300m in the last three years.
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Earlier this year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her support for the scheme, but ministers later ruled out paying for the stadium.
Speaking at an international property conference in Cannes, France today (March 12), United's chief operating officer Collette Roche was asked how the club would finance the project - and whether the vision they unveiled is an ambition, aspiration or 'nailed-on plan'.
She told the audience at MIPIM: "We're not here for public handouts. That wouldn't be something that would be Man United and certainly not acceptable in terms of what we stand for.
"We feel we are going to have the money. There's lots of options, we're having lots of conversations, to be able to fund the stadium."
Manchester United's chief operating officer Collette Roche
Manchester United's chief operating officer Collette Roche
She added: "My phone has been going crazy since yesterday and before with people who want to be part of this because they see the benefit.
"We believe very strongly that we'll find the funds to be able to pay for the stadium and also we understand that through working as a team with the local government, we'll be able to make sure that the surrounding area is something that we can all be proud of."
However, Ms Roche said that there will be opportunities for 'public and private partnerships' in the areas around the stadium.
Andy Burnham, who appeared alongside Ms Roche on the panel, also ruled out public money being spent on United's new stadium.
He said it is more likely that public money would be spent off site, citing plans to move a freight terminal away from Old Trafford.
Manchester United's plans for a new 100,000 seat stadium and wider generation of Old Trafford
Manchester United's plans for a new 100,000 seat stadium and the wider regeneration of Old Trafford
The Greater Manchester mayor spoke of the benefits of relocating the site to Merseyside which would free up land next to United's stadium but also remove freight trains that travel on congested rail lines through Manchester city centre to end up at Old Trafford.
Asked whether the vision unveiled by the club this week is a dream, aspiration or 'nailed-on plan', Ms Roche said: "Definitely not a dream, probably more of an ambition, but definitely substance I would say and moving towards a plan. That comes back to team work.
"The majority of what we've talked about will be enabled by the conversations that Andy is having with the surrounding landowners. It will be about us getting the planning permission, it will be about us working with community.
"But [it's] definitely not just an ambition. There's a lot of work that's gone behind to get us to this point.
"The task force has been in place for almost 12 months. And I've been probably working on this for three years. It feels like a long journey to me, but the start of something for some people I understand."