It might be the football club stadium with the highest capacity in England, but Manchester United’s Old Trafford will not form part of the Football Association’s bid to host Euro 2028.
If there’s one thing that has characterised the Glazer family’s ownership of the Red Devils, it’s the way in which they’ve allowed the famous old ground go to rack and ruin.
Should the club be taken over this summer, or before, then one of the first things that either Sheikh Jassim or Sir Jim Ratcliffe – should they be successful – will need to do is upgrade the facilities significantly.
It’s arguably that potential upgrade that has ruled Old Trafford out of the running and seen Man City’s Etihad Stadium installed in any bid in its place, per The Times (subscription required).
According to the Daily Mail, any upgrade to the stadium is likely to cost United’s owners north of £1bn, and were they to consider moving to a brand new ground, the owners would likely be looking at a cost of somewhere in the region of £2bn.
That’s on top of any purchase price, which is believed to need to be a world record for the Glazers to consider packing their bags.
For such a world class club as United, having a ground that’s effectively falling to bits is nothing but an embarrassment and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.