Ratcliffe now working on “new Old Trafford” with Man Utd approaches made

Ratcliffe now working on “new Old Trafford” with Man Utd approaches made

When Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreed a deal to buy 25% of Manchester United from the Glazers in December for £1bn, he vowed to invest £236m into the club’s Old Trafford stadium. By capacity, it’s the largest venue in the Premier League, but it won’t be hosting any matches when the UK and Ireland stage Euro 2028 in anticipation of potential redevelopment work.

Biggest stadiums in the Premier League

Rank

Stadium

Club

Capacity

1

Old Trafford

Manchester United

75,563

2

London Stadium

West Ham United

62,500

3

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tottenham Hotspur

62,062

4

Anfield

Liverpool

61,000

5

Emirates Stadium

Arsenal

60,704

6

Etihad Stadium

Manchester City

55,097

7

St James’ Park

Newcastle United

52,338

8

Villa Park

Aston Villa

42,660

9

Stamford Bridge

Chelsea

41,798

10

Goodison Park

Everton

39,571

There were even reports earlier this month that Ratcliffe had considered building an entirely new facility, but Sky Sports clarified at the time that all options were still on the table, and no decision had been made.

Big news on Ratcliffe’s Old Trafford plans

Now, in a fresh Old Trafford update from The Daily Mail, it’s emerged that Ratcliffe and his company INEOS are making progress on a 90,000 “new Old Trafford”, with contact made with “potential investment partners” as they look to move forward “rapidly” with plans to either “rebuild or refresh” the stadium.

Significantly, they have already “ditched” the idea of moving to a new site and would prefer to rebuild the current ground instead. The hope is that the work can be completed by 2029.

Ratcliffe’s plans certainly aren’t short of ‘wow’ factor, with the British businessman aiming to increase the capacity by considering the possibility of a new ‘Stretford End’ based on Tottenham Hotspur’s single-tier ‘Kop’ stand behind the goal.

They have held initial talks with local politicians, including Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, over securing government funding, and will also speak to the Football Association about hosting England matches at the so-called “Wembley of the North”.

Ratcliffe wasting no time

It was only earlier this week that the Premier League officially ratified the deal between Ratcliffe and the Glazers, with FA approval expected to follow in due course, but he’s making his limitless ambition clear to United supporters straight away.

In addition to the stadium plans, the 71-year-old is assembling his new club hierarchy, with Omar Berrada already set to join as CEO after defecting from Manchester City. They have made Dan Ashworth their first and only sporting director target, and he wants to join, while they are also keen to recruit Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox to report to Ashworth.

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Come the end of the season, there will also be a vital decision to make around manager Erik ten Hag, one that might hinge on whether United manage to qualify for next year’s Champions League.