Man Utd owners INEOS ‘make Old Trafford U-turn’ with new plan for stadium | Football | Sport

Manchester United are reportedly willing to ‘bulldoze Old Trafford to the ground’ if they decide against redeveloping the iconic stadium.

Since the arrival of INEOS, talks have been held about whether to redevelop the 114-year-old ground or build a new state-of-the-art stadium elsewhere, which would be regarded as the Wembley of the North.

If a new stadium was to be built, United were previously looking to scale down the size of Old Trafford so that it could be used by their women’s and academy teams, though that proposal is now being questioned by INEOS.

According to the Daily Mail, United are ready to ‘abandon’ the plans to keep Old Trafford if they press on with the favoured idea of building a new stadium next door.

Club chiefs are said to have recognised that the idea is essentially a second stadium project which would need to be worked on alongside the plans for a new ground, which is expected to be worth in the region of £2billion.

United believe that scaling down Old Trafford to a venue with a capacity of 30,000 is ‘unlikely to work’ and that the build and restoration would be incredibly ‘complex’ and pricey overall when a new top-quality stadium would be nearby.

The Red Devils have enjoyed history-making success at Old Trafford and countless club legends have played at the stadium. There are also elements of the stadium which hold immense value, such as the Munich clock and the tunnel which commemorated the 1958 air disaster.

As such, United are reportedly looking into creating a heritage focus group which will look to ensure that the most ‘historical’ parts of Old Trafford are not destroyed if a plan is agreed for the stadium to be knocked down.

A task force was set up previously which has been the driving force behind the talks over a new ground, with Lord Sebastien Coe and former United star Gary Neville both involved.

Architects have already been appointed to start drawing up ideas for the outside area of the stadium. Foster and Partners have been tasked with developing a plan to make use of the club-owned land around the new ground to ensure that there is an atmosphere in the area and the stadium does not feel ‘soulless’.