According to reports, ‘two major hurdles’ are impacting Manchester United’s new stadium plans as a potential ‘land swap’ deal is ‘key’ to the process.
INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in Man Utd at the start of 2024 and has been heavily criticised for his decision-making over the past year.
The British billionaire only owns a 29% stake in the Premier League giants, but he is in control of footballing matters at Old Trafford and has sanctioned a major cost-cutting programme.
The Glazer family were running Man Utd into the ground and Ratcliffe has felt forced to make several unpopular decisions to balance the books.
Ratcliffe has swiftly gone from hero to villain as he’s hiked ticket prices, sanctioned mass redundancies, cut benefits to club legend and scrapped free lunches for staff.
It’s been widely reported that the Red Devils are strapped for cash heading into the summer and need to offload sellable assets to balance the books.
Despite this, Man Utd recently announced plans to build a new 100,000-seater stadium to replace Old Trafford in a project tipped to cost around £2bn.
United have optimistically stated that they want their new stadium to be completed in five years, but a report from The Daily Mail claims ‘two major hurdles are preventing the build’.
It is picked out ‘key’ detail in the development, as ‘one way of speeding up the process would be for the club to agree a land swap with their freight company neighbours’.
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It is noted that ‘United won’t actually start enabling works until they have secured planning permission and financing for the stadium, as well as a guarantee that the government will provide public funding for the wider regeneration around Old Trafford’.
Regarding another ‘piece of the jigsaw’ and when Man Utd could start building, the report adds:
‘Even with the help of a mayoral development corporation to fast-track the whole project, United would be lucky to start work before the end of the year.
‘The other piece in the jigsaw is acquiring the land needed to build the new stadium from Freightliner, who own the rail terminal behind the Stretford End.
‘Although talks have been positive, Freightliner probably won’t be able to relocate to its new site at Parkside East near St Helens until 2029.
‘However, Confidential understands that one option being considered is for United to swap another area of land they own at the back of the car park at Old Trafford with the slice they need for the stadium.
‘That would allow United to start building work and Freightliner to continue their operations uninterrupted until a more permanent solution can be found. Even then, plans to have United playing in the new stadium by the 2030-31 season seem optimistic at best. But at least the five-year project could be underway by the start of 2026.’
