Andy Burnham has claimed that a brand new Old Trafford could be part of the biggest regeneration in the north of England this century and cement Manchester as the football capital of the world.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester has joined Lord Coe and Gary Neville on a taskforce to drive plans for a new 90,000-seater stadium to replace United’s 114-year-old home, and believes it could have the same transformative effect on Manchester as the 2012 Olympics had on East London.
A final decision over whether to rebuild Old Trafford or redevelop the existing stadium will be made towards the autumn, but the United board are backing Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plans for a new state-of-the-art arena and Burnham is behind it as well.