Things have not been great on the pitch this season at Manchester United, with the Red Devils in the bottom half of the Premier League table. They look unlikely to qualify for any European competition through their league position.
Minority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe recently discussed United’s precarious financial position. This doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the club’s current situation.
A potential exciting development
Despite the talk of United’s reported poor financial health, on Tuesday, United announced plans to build a 100,000-seater stadium near the club’s current home, Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe is highly ambitious for the club’s new stadium, stating that he wants the club to have the “world’s greatest football stadium”.
The belief is that the new stadium could well take five years to be completed. Apparently, a building project of this type would usually take double the timeframe.
Ratcliffe, who is in charge of sporting matters at United, believes that the timeframe can be reduced by utilising the Manchester Ship Canal. At the reveal of the plans, he stated: “Normally, if you were building a 100,000-seater stadium from the ground up, in an area that needs to be regenerated, it’s a 10-year project. But if we get going with the government, then I think it’s a five-year project, not a 10-year project,”
The club’s plans involve building modular parts of the stadium elsewhere before shipping the pieces of the stadium to the location of the new stadium.
Architect Sir Norman Foster agrees with Jim Ratcliffe’s timeframe, adding: “Normally a stadium would take 10 years to build, we halved that time – five years. How do we do that? By pre-fabrication, by using the network of Manchester ship canal, bring it back to a new life, shipping in components, 160 of them, Meccano-like.”
When will the project start?
There is no confirmed date for the start of the work, as it won’t be solely down to Manchester United. Ratcliffe knows that the timeframe of the stadium’s construction will depend on the government, as the stadium will be part of a regeneration scheme for the area around the proposed new stadium site.
🚨🚨🎥 Lord Norman Foster says the design for Manchester United’s new stadium aims to brings fans “close to the pitch” and confirms the target is to build in five years. 2030 is the initial target and no later than 2032. #MUFC [MU] pic.twitter.com/oHisfbgAkx
— mufcmpb (@mufcMPB) March 11, 2025
Talking about a prospective start date, Ratcliffe continued by saying: “On the timeline for this, it starts with a discussion,”
“It depends how quickly the government get going with their regeneration programme. I think they want to get going quite quickly because they want to see progress in this parliament. I’m assuming that will go well, and it will go quickly.”
Not only are United working with the government, but also with FA England, who are supporting the project, which some have hinted could include financial assistance. However, the Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, has stated that no public money will be used to fund the project.
Can the Red Devils afford the new stadium?
The question marks over United’s financial situation have led to people also questioning how they will afford the build, especially as the club is reportedly in debt of around £1b.
United estimates that the proposed new stadium will cost around £2 billion, which is no small sum. The club has yet to reveal how it will fund the project, although it has many different options. Loans, private investments, and money invested personally by Jim Ratcliffe are all options.
Talking about the club’s recent cost-cutting measures, United chief executive Omar Berrada, said: ‘What we’re doing now is try to put ourselves in the best financial position to be able to finance a stadium and other infrastructure projects,”
“Our aim is to be the most profitable club within three years. We think this will put us on the best financial footing to make this investment and to work with private investors who are willing to work with us.”
However, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the existing debt shouldn’t be an issue, as United is likely to take out an interest-only loan to fund the project.
He told the BBC: “The good news for Manchester United is that the club is in a position to borrow substantial sums, despite existing levels of debt,”
“If the club does borrow a substantial amount of the estimated £2bn cost of the new stadium, it is likely to do so with some form of interest-only loan.
It would be a similar deal to the one Tottenham did to build the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, the move to their new state-of-the-art stadium helped Spurs increase matchday income by £72m, while commercial income rose by an incredible £155m.
The ultimate aim is to put United in better financial health
The objective of any club building a new stadium is to increase revenue, just as Tottenham have done. This is a long-term project aimed at improving the club’s finances in the future, which will obviously mean a bigger transfer budget and more money available for wages.
United’s current ground, Old Trafford, is one of the most iconic stadiums in the world. However, like many of the older stadiums in the English top flight, it is starting to show its age. It will be emotional for United to leave their long-standing ground.
🏟️ “The history of Manchester United is so important.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe explains why we are building a new stadium and reaffirms his vision for the future 👇#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 11, 2025
The plans for the new stadium look incredibly interesting. It could help Manchester United move into the future. However, until there are more concrete details on the plans, it’s hard to get that excited about the project.