Manchester United could construct a new 100,000-capacity stadium as part of the biggest regeneration project in Europe, sources have said.
A task force chaired by Sebastian Coe and featuring club representatives, former United defender Gary Neville and Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is understood to have centred its discussions to date on a new build stadium rather than redeveloping Old Trafford.
No firm decision has yet been taken however, with the best way forward set to be determined by the task force by the end of the year.
Sources close to the task force say this is about more than simply building a new stadium and say going ahead with this plan would represent the most ambitious regeneration project in Europe.
The task force met for the first time on April 16th and is understood to have convened four times in total to date.
Redevelopment is the slightly cheaper option than a new build – estimated at £1.2 billion (€1.4 billion) compared to £2 billion – but comes with complications.
Speaking in February, United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said: “(Redevelopment) is not perfect because you’re modifying a stadium that is slap bang up against a railway line and all that type of stuff, so it’s not an ideal world. But you finish up with a very good answer.
“There’s this wider conversation with the community as to whether you could use a more ambitious project on site as a catalyst to regenerate that Old Trafford area.
“There’s a strong case for using a (new) stadium to regenerate that area, like with the (2012) Olympics, like Seb Coe did with that part of east London quite successfully. City have done it and they’ve done quite a good job (of regenerating Eastlands).”
Ratcliffe believes a new stadium could be a northern rival to Wembley and has previously said the project should attract some taxpayer funding.
“Where do you have to go if you get to the semi-final of the FA Cup and you’re a northern club? You have to schlep down to London, don’t you?” he added in February.
“People in the north pay their taxes and there is an argument that you could think about a more ambitious project in the north which would be fitting for England, for the Champions League final or the FA Cup final and act as a catalyst to regenerate southern Manchester, which has got quite significant history in the UK.”
