Manchester United said work is continuing behind the scenes on its plan for a new 100,000-seater stadium as it published third-quarter financial results on Wednesday, giving the latest update on a project that has become one of the club’s biggest long-term ambitions.
The timing matters because the club used a day of fresh financial numbers to say where the stadium plan stands now. United reported an operating profit of £37.7million in the quarter, reversing a £3.2m operating loss from the same period last year, and said cost-cutting measures and better Premier League performances helped the turnaround.
For Omar Berrada, the project is about more than a new address. He said the stadium should give the club more room for supporters and create extra income to put back into the squad, saying the aim is to accommodate more fans and generate additional revenues that would help finance the talent supporters see on the pitch.
That ambition still runs into a practical problem. United needs a deal to buy the rail yard around Old Trafford from Freightliner before it can move ahead, and talks over that land have stalled. The club has estimated the new ground would cost around £2bn, a huge figure even before the wider financial picture is considered, with United still carrying just under £1.3billion of debt.
Financing has been a shifting target. Sir Jim Ratcliffe initially floated the idea that taxpayers could help pay for the project, a suggestion rejected by Andy Burnham. United confirmed two months ago that the stadium would be privately financed, and a club spokesperson repeated that the proposed new ground will be funded privately while conversations continue with potential investors and other stakeholders.
There is another source of value in the plan if it ever reaches the point of construction. United has said it will sell the naming rights to Old Trafford once the new stadium is complete, and the deal has been estimated to bring in about £150m over 10 years. For now, though, the key question is not the branding on the front of the stadium but when the land around it can finally be secured.
