Manchester United given update on new £2bn Old Trafford stadium - 'Slightly uncertain' Man Utd are planning to build a new Old Trafford but the timeframe for when the stadium will be ready remains uncertain. Comments Sport Tyrone Marshall Senior Manchester Football Writer 11:44, 24 Apr 2026 View Image What Manchester United's new stadium could look like (Image: Manchester United) One of the key figures involved in plans to build Manchester United's new stadium has admitted the timeframe for when the £2bn project might come to fruition is "slightly uncertain". United are still working on acquiring land around Old Trafford required for the ambitious project to go ahead, with the aim of building a new 100,000-seater stadium. When the plans were initially announced in March 2025, Sir Jim Ratcliffe said it would take five years to build and hoped to be able to move in for 2030, but with work still to begin a potential opening date has been kicked down the line. Click here to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter Now Sebastian Coe has admitted the timeframe is unclear as work continues on preparing the project. Lord Coe, who oversaw London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic bid, is chair of the Mayoral Development Corporation for the Old Trafford regeneration project and previously chaired a task force set up by Ratcliffe to look at stadium options. Coe appeared on The Sports Agents podcast this week, and asked about a timescale for the stadium, he said: “Well, again, it’s slightly uncertain at the moment. The stadium is being scoped and being properly scaled. “But again, that is also dependent on the purchasing and the acquisition of various other parcels of land in that space. That’s all taking place at the moment and I won’t maintain a running commentary on that, but we’re moving in the right direction.” Coe is excited to be involved in the project for a stadium that Ratcliffe hopes will become a 'Wembley of the north'. To develop the project, United need to acquire land around the Old Trafford site, particularly a patch owned by Freightliner which the company has valued at £400million, well above the club's valuation. Collette Roche, CEO for the stadium project, said last month negotiations were progressing and an announcement could come within a matter of months, but Coe admits buying the land required is always a complicated task. "I love regeneration projects and I was really pleased to be asked to get involved in that," he said. “I do actually believe in good, locally-funded projects to make lives easier for local people. And I also saw from the London model that if you build it around sport, the multiplier impact of getting other stuff done is far quicker than it would have been. "Land acquisition is always complicated. I know that from London, so, at this moment, it’s just putting the stuff together sequentially and incrementally and using a world-class stadium to be a catalyst for so many other things, including inward investment. "So, it’s about jobs, it’s about housing, it’s about educational aspiration and I’ve seen sport so often used properly, changing local landscapes and this is an exciting project.” Article continues below Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more £44 Sky Get the deal here Product Description Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL. Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.
Curated by Taleb Kabbara · Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk