Paul Merson reckons Manchester United fans will be “fuming” at Sir Jim Ratcliffe after the Manchester United co-owner announced plans for their new stadium.
United announced plans for their new 100,000-seat stadium on Tuesday, which will act as the ‘centrepiece of the regeneration of the Old Trafford area’.
A United statement read: ‘The stadium, and wider regeneration project, have the potential to deliver an additional £7.3bn per year to the UK economy which brings large-scale social and economic benefits to the community and wider region, including the possible creation of 92,000 new jobs, more than 17,000 new homes as well as driving an additional 1.8 million visitors annually.’
Ratcliffe hailed “the start of an incredibly exciting journey” to build “the world’s greatest stadium” but Merson is “flabbergasted”.
He told Sky Sports: “I think it’s pathetic. If I am a Man United fan I would be fuming.
“They are at Old Trafford, they’ve one of the biggest stadiums in the Premier League. I can understand if it’s Chelsea and Chelsea say ‘we want to move stadiums’ because Chelsea get 38,000 and they need to get a bigger stadium to keep living with the big boys.
“But when they’re Man United and they already hold 70-odd thousand and holds more than everybody else, why would you need a new stadium? You need new players, they need a team – and this is what I can’t work out.
“I hear Sir Jim Ratcliffe going ‘this is going to be a stadium and England are going to be able to play here’. Don’t worry about England, don’t worry about the national team, worry about Man United, worry about getting them into the top six, let alone into the Champions League.
“I just can’t believe what I have been seeing over the last couple of days. I am flabbergasted.”
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United legend Roy Keane is impressed by the plans but isn’t comfortable with the juxtaposition of Ratcliffe laying off members of staff and refusing to pay for their lunches while announcing the £2bn project.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: “He [Jim Ratcliffe] is on about saving money at the club and we know the way that a lot of ex-players have been treated, the fund they had available, the staff that have been at the club for years – on one hand he’s still treating them badly, and I understand it’s a business and you’ve got to try and make the right decisions, but the next day they’re building a £2 billion stadium for their fans around the world. You have to show loyalty to people that have been at the club for years.
“From the business side of it you’d think he knows what he’s talking about but saying that, on one hand they’re getting rid of lots of people and on the other, they’re going to spend £2 billion on a stadium. He can still look after people a little bit better.”
