Man Utd are planning to have TWO stadiums as shock plans revealed

 

Man United are hoping to solve their stadium issue this year.

Manchester United are reportedly planning to have two stadiums as part of shock plans.

Since becoming minority owner of Man United in January, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made it clear that solving the Old Trafford problem is one of his top priorities.

United’s iconic home is outdated and in need of significant upgrades and repair work, but there are differing opinions on the best course of action.

One idea is to demolish Old Trafford and build a 100,000-capacity ‘Wembley of the North’, while another is to develop the current stadium.

Now, according to the Daily Mail, a plan to build a new £2 billion stadium while also keeping Old Trafford could be on the cards.

Rather than demolishing their home of 114 years, United would consider scaling down Old Trafford in order to preserve the history of the club and provide a permanent home of the women’s and academy teams.

The plan would be to reduce three stands – the Stretford End, Sir Alex Ferguson Stand and East Stand – to single storey structures, lowering the capacity from 75,000 to 30,000.

Features including the Munich clock and statues of Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Jimmy Murphy and the Holy Trinity of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law would be retained.

That part of the project would not take place until a new state-of-the-art stadium is built on vacant land behind the Stretford End, allowing United to continue using Old Trafford until their new home is ready.

United will not be able to stump up £2bn for the project, so are exploring public-private funding opportunities for the stadium and wider regeneration of the area around Old Trafford on land owned by the club.

Naming rights for a new stadium could also be sold.

If the project is judged to not be financially viable, then United could opt for a £1bn redevelopment of Old Trafford instead.

United have canvassed around 30,000 fans over whether to stay put or build into a new stadium, with the response understood to be roughly 50-50.