Man Utd's £2bn Old Trafford stadium plan questions raised as expert shares roof fears

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Manchester United's proposals for a new 100,000-capacity Old Trafford stadium have sparked worries within the architectural sector. The club have estimated that the new ground could carry a £2billion price tag.

United recently announced that the project will be privately funded , after Sir Jim Ratcliffe had previously hoped that taxpayers might contribute towards financing the stadium. Early indications suggested the 2030/31 season could serve as a target completion date, though new stadium development chief executive Collette Roche has since played down that timeframe.

"I think when we launched the idea of a new stadium 12 months ago, we did say it would take between four and five years for construction," Roche recently said on United's Inside Carrington podcast . "And that's right. But I think people read that as we might have the stadium ready for 2030.

"But as you know, with a stadium build as complex as the one that we're going to enter into, it does take one or two years to get ready for construction, to get the land assembled, to get the funds in place and to get the planning permission, so that's the part we are doing right now. We have not named a date for opening but we are on track."

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The club brought in Foster + Partners to draw up a stadium blueprint as part of a broader regeneration scheme in September 2024, with conceptual images unveiled last March. However, United face a number of hurdles before any building work can begin.

An industry source told the Manchester Evening News : "[The club are] clearly trying to work on the funding and until they get that, nothing's happening really. There is speculation within the industry that the figure quoted for the whole project is optimistic. So it may end up being considerably more than that."

A significant stumbling block involves land owned by Freightliner, located behind the Stretford End. It has been suggested that United's decision to publicly reveal their new stadium plans before securing the site could complicate negotiations considerably.

An industry expert said: "It includes the rail freight land they need etc. and they announced that without confirming the land so that changes everything in the negotiations."

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The tent-shaped roof was a striking feature of the designs made public last year. Industry estimates suggest the roof alone could set the club back as much as £300million, accounting for a substantial chunk of the projected £2bn budget.

A source told MEN Sport : "It's certainly not the conventional way to go about it. You secure the land first and then you announce your designs."

"The sense in the industry is that they had to unveil that concept design - and they were careful to call it a concept design - to then go and secure the funding. It was no longer enough to just do it on a promise. They had to show something. Whether the final result ends up being that design or not, I think is open to debate."

In her recent club interview, Roche confirmed that United's ambitions remained unchanged from when the conceptual images were unveiled last March. The new stadium development chief executive said: "Yeah, absolutely. It's the same ambition, same vision, we want to build a stadium that's befitting of our past but also fit for the future."

Once building work gets underway, the new ground could realistically be finished within five years. However, the required land must be acquired before any construction can commence.

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A further consideration is the potential increase in raw-material prices during this period, which could push United beyond their budget. In February, financial figures for the second quarter revealed United's debt stands at nearly £1.3bn.

As part of the stadium proposals, the club has been collaborating with the Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation, established in January and chaired by Lord Coe.

United's new stadium development CEO Roche recently offered a comprehensive update on the scheme. "We've made a lot of progress in the last 12 months," Roche said.

"But to be fair, a lot of it has been behind the scenes. So people might not have seen that, but some of the examples of progress we've made are first and foremost in land assembly.

"We want to make sure we get the best possible position for the stadium, one which has got plenty of land around it to put the right facilities in place, one that is connected and offers a great matchday experience.

"I have been spending a lot of time talking to all of the local land owners to understand where that needs to be and we are progressing that really, really well. I am hoping to be able to share some positive news on that front in the next few months."