Former Manchester United star Paul Scholes has aired his reservations over the Sir Jim Ratcliffe's lofty ambitions to knock down Old Trafford and build a new 100,000 seater stadium
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Updated 11:31, 18 Mar 2025
Paul Scholes talks on the Fan Debate
Paul Scholes has revealed his doubts around Manchester United's new stadium plans
(Image: The Overlap)
Paul Scholes believes Manchester United are in a state of "begging" when it comes to their finances.
United announced plans last week to deliver a brand new 100,000 seater arena and talk around who is footing the bill has swirled ever since. The news followed Sir Jim Ratcliffe's wide ranging interview with former club captain Gary Neville, where everything from recruitment to the club's wage bill and more were discussed.
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However, Scholes has reservations about how Ratcliffe is looking to fund the project. “You can be gullible at times, and believe what he [Sir Jim Ratcliffe] says, just because you’ve never heard anyone say anything before," he said on Sky Sports' Fan Debate.
"You don’t know how realistic it is, it’s all up in the air. Words are cheap, and we could say anything about anyone, you can say in 10 years we’ll have the biggest and best stadium.
"For a long time, we’ve been called the richest club in the world, but I feel like we’re begging a little, asking for the stadium and that we need £2 billion, and selling players to buy players.”
A mock up of a new Old Trafford football stadium
An impression of how United's new stadium could look(Image: Foster + Partners/PA Wire)
The club is yet to confirm how much the stadium will cost, but the Manchester Evening News has previously reported estimates of £2bn. The club have said that no public money will be used to build the stadium.
Earlier this year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the government would support the Old Trafford project, but did not share how, while ministers later ruled out paying towards the cost. However, it's reported that United believe the stadium and wider regeneration project, part of the Government’s growth agenda, can deliver an additional £7.3bn per year to the UK economy.
This is said to be done by creating up to 92,000 new jobs, more than 17,000 new homes and attracting an extra 1.8m visitors every year. The M.E.N. understands that support could come in the shape of funding to build new housing in the area.
The new stadium means the surrounding area of Old Trafford is set to be completely transformed and reaction to United's prospective new home has been mixed.
File photo dated 06-10-2024 of Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Manchester United co-owner Ineos has been accused of failing to honour a sponsorship agreement with New Zealand Rugby. Issue date: Tuesday February 11, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story RUGBYU New Zealand. Photo credit should read Mike Egerton/PA Wire.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe announced plans for the new stadium after his interview with Gary Neville
Architects at Foster and Partners, who will design the project, said the new stadium would feature an umbrella design and a new public plaza that is "twice the size of Trafalgar Square".
The design will feature three masts described as "the trident", which the architects say will be 200 metres high and visible from 25 miles away. Images also show concerts being hosted at the stadium as well as other events in the public plaza.
"Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world's greatest stadium," Ratcliffe said upon the announcement. "Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years but it has fallen behind the arenas in world sport. I think we may well finish up with the most iconic football stadium in the world."