We need a stadium befitting one of the biggest clubs in the world and at the moment, it's not there

NEW UNITED CO-OWNER TELLS THE M.E.N. HE WANTS TO REBUILD ‘RUN-DOWN AND ‘NEGLECTED’ OLD TRAFFORD AND MAKE IT A ‘WEMBLEY OF THE NORTH’

- SAMUEL LUCKHURST

NEW Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists it is a 'nobrainer' to rebuild Old Trafford, which he has described as 'run down' and 'neglected!

The M.E.N. reported earlier this month the Reds could rebuild the stadium without temporarily relocating and that the club has been advised that is the best option.

A renovation of the 114-year-old stadium is understood to be complicated due to the railway line behind the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand and Old Trafford's existing structures. Although sources have suggested enhancing the stadium would be more cost-efficient than rebuilding it, the expense would still be considerable and more timeconsuming.

United would also be hit by reduced-capacity crowds, as they were when the north stand, now the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, was rebuilt in 1995.

A new Old Trafford would be a higher capital cost but provide a better return on the investment and could be constructed while Old Trafford is still in use, as Tottenham did with White Hart Lane while their new stadium was under construction next door.

Spurs moved into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in March 2019, having played home games at Wembley for nearly two years amid delays to their new home's construction.

"In an ideal world, I think it's a no-brainer," Ratcliffe told the M.E.N.

"In an ideal world, you want a stadium in the north, a stadium of the north, which would be a worldclass stadium where England could play and you could have the FA Cup Final and it's not all centred around the south of England.