The official purchase of part of Manchester United by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe once again places the renovation of Old Trafford as one of the priorities for the club in the coming years, as the agreement made by the businessman also foresees an investment exclusively destined for the stadium.
However, the architecture company responsible for reviewing the project points out that just a redesign may not be the best choice for the legendary stage, indicating the demolition of the ‘theater of dreams’.
Therefore, in an interview with “Telegraph”, Chris Lee, executive president of Populous, the company that also built Tottenham’s new stadium, pointed out that the costs of renovation could even exceed the costs of building a stadium from scratch.
“I wouldn’t say it suits me, but I feel that new construction could end up being the most economical solution. Yes, the initial investment is obviously the highest of the three options, but there is a lot of land to develop there. United could continue to use the current land while construction is underway,” Lee said.
Furthermore, the architect indicated that, in this way, United would not have an abrupt drop in revenue from game days, with ticket sales, official products and food items, among others. This would be possible because the club owns land much larger than the Old Trafford space.
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Thus, they could build a new stadium practically next to their current home, which would continue to be used while the new construction progressed.
“Architecturally, in the available space you could do something really innovative and exciting. There would be no space constraints.”
With this, the architectural company would have indicated three options so that United can have a modern stadium: a structural renovation of the entire stadium; the remodeling of the ground with the expansion of the south stand; or the demolition of the current structure and the construction of a new stadium.
It is worth remembering that the Glazer family, which has controlled the club for decades, already had a renovation of Old Trafford in its plans and had begun a review of the local structure. However, the project did not progress as expected, given the uncertainty about the future of the businessmen’s domain, harshly criticized by the fans.
In this way, the way was open for British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is a United fan, but who would only buy 25% of the club. The process for the sale stretched over months but was confirmed to be complete on Christmas Eve.
The club have indicated that Ratcliffe’s investment will be around £1.25 billion and guarantees the businessman control over the institution’s football. As part of the deal, he will provide a £237 million fund for investment at Old Trafford.