Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe emphasised the importance of building a new and modern stadium, while revealing what the ‘iconic’ project would look like.
Since taking over the club’s day-to-day operations, the British billionaire and his group, INEOS, have implemented several unpopular cost-cutting measures, as 250 employees and counting have lost their jobs.
However, the 72-year-old insisted that these decisions will eventually help the club regain financial balance, and ultimately lead to the arrival of top-notch players.
Moreover, Ratcliffe has been hellbent on building a modern stadium to replace the aging Old Trafford which has been serving as the club’s ground since 1910.
Therefore, the club have now announced plans to build an “iconic” new £2bn 100,000-seater ground which will be located close to Old Trafford. The construction works could be completed in five years.
“Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest stadium,” said Ratcliffe.
“Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years but it has fallen behind the arenas in world sport. I think we may well finish up with the most iconic football stadium in the world.”
As the BBC notes, the club is currently having to deal with staggering £1bn debts, and they haven’t explained how they intend to finance this major project.
In any case, this project will likely be bittersweet for the Red Army. While abandoning their beloved home, Old Trafford, would be difficult to digest, the new stadium represents an exciting new project, and hopefully a fresh start for a club that desperately needs one.
While OT certainly isn’t the Red Devils’ main problem, the decaying structure does somewhat embody a club enduring a steep decline.
