It has been over a year since Manchester United unveiled plans to build a new 100,000-seater stadium to replace Old Trafford, but little progress has been made publicly.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ambitious plans have yet to advance from theory, despite Manchester United assigning Norman Foster architects to the job.
But United could be about to secure funding with a major private equity fund being discussed, considering it looks to be more expensive than first planned.
To cut down on an already massive job, United are scrapping the net feature over the top of the stadium, which was due to cost a big chunk of the fee.
Now, Andy Mitten has revealed what he is now hearing about the plans.
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Inside Old Trafford
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Andy Mitten explains the latest on Manchester United’s new stadium
Speaking on the latest episode of the Talk of the Devils podcast, Mitten has explained that, despite the stadium not moving publicly forward, behind the scenes, it is.
“I actually sense that the club feels like they’re making progress. From the people that I have spoken to, I don’t think the club are in a position to come out and say we’ve signed this, we’ve done that, but I get a sense of the club feeling like they are making progress.
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“I don’t know how the stadium will be funded. So there are all these issues further down the line, but that just because there has been a lack of announcements, I don’t think this is dead in the water.”
While this at least sounds positive, United were hoping to be underway by this stage, with 2030 targeted for the grand opening, a target which now looks completely unfeasible.
The biggest hurdle preventing the stadium from getting started is United’s inability to agree the purchase of a rail freight hub, with the owners demanding a fee far beyond the current Ineos offer.
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Credit: Getty Images.
Manchester United’s stadium plans could accelerate very quickly
United’s stadium could generate £7bn of revenue for the UK economy in the North West once completed, making it important not only for the club, but also the wider community.
For this reason, the government are keen to help, and with the freight hub issue, there could be plans to impose a mandatory purchase order.
Once this hurdle is passed, there won’t be much standing in the way of United, and the stadium could shoot up pretty quickly once this happens.
If Ineos wants the stadium to be in use for the Women’s World Cup in 2035, and to achieve this goal, things need to start moving along. Because it won’t be long until we are looking ahead to 2027.
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