Manchester United have been disappointing in the Premier League for several years, but attendance at Old Trafford is consistently the best in the league. As the stadium reaches the end of its lifespan, the club is thinking of building the “Wembley of the North” with an even larger capacity. However, this is not the only option on the table as the deadline for a final decision is getting closer.

“Wembley of the North” instead of the “Theatre of Dreams”

Old Trafford, Manchester United's home since 1910, is inevitably coming to an end in the way that we know it. The ageing facility is forcing the club to consider two options: a major redevelopment or the erection of an entirely new stadium.

The first option would preserve the historic facility, but would likely be relatively expensive, as according to BBC, the cost would be around £1.2b, and would temporarily reduce the capacity of the regularly packed Old Trafford. Building a new facility could instead give the club and architects more room to manoeuvre and potentially higher revenue.

There has long been unofficial talk in Manchester of a desire to build a Wembley of the North by Sir Jim Rattclife, who owns more than a quarter of the club's shares. In favour of the project is the fact that Old Trafford's fill rate exceeded 98% in the 2023/24 season, as well as the fashion for multi-purpose and ultra-modern arenas such as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the new Bernabéu or the new Camp Nou. However, it is an open question whether Wembley of the North will mean a rebuilt and modernised Old Trafford or a completely new stadium.

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Decision by the end of the year

The Old Trafford redevelopment task force has already made a preliminary decision, according to British media. The group that includes Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and former Red Devils captain Gary Neville, among others, is said to advocate for building a new arena on land owned by the club. This would mean that the new stadium would stand in the immediate vicinity of the Theatre of Dreams. There is talk of a capacity of up to 100,000, which would make the venue the largest in the Isles and one of the largest in the world.

BBC reports that a final decision will be made by the end of the year. The club's chief operating officer Collette Roch was said to be looking at designs for the new Bernabéu, Optus Stadium in Perth or the world's most expensive stadium, SoFi Stadium. However, the Californian gem could lose that title to the Wembley of the North, which would cost, according to some sources, more than £2b, approaching the $3.4b for which the Inglewood venue was built. The anticipated construction time is six years.

The problem, however, could be funding. Sir Jim Rattclife pledged £237m to upgrade the club facilities when he bought the club's shares, but that is just over 10% of the amount needed. The club is most likely relying on attracting private investors or selling the stadium's naming rights, as well as public funds, as the club's debt of almost $1bn calls into question the ability to take on further debt.

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Jim Rattclife, in an interview with Bloomberg, said that the whole area needed renovation and revitalisation, and that the nucleus of its renewal would be the new stadium project. However, there is a lack of political statements that would unequivocally assure support for such a vision, making it not at all clear that the project will receive funding from the government.