Manchester United’s new stadium construction could be held up for one reason amid chief executive officer Omar Berrada promising “some news” about the project.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has advocated for the construction of a ‘Wembley of the North’ since the 73-year-old Ineos chief became a minority shareholder of Manchester United.
United revealed a first look at their design for the Old Trafford successor back in March 2025, which will cost an eye-watering £2bn for the Red Devils to build.
The Red Devils’ new stadium has an eye-catching aesthetic — for better or worse — and the venue would be the biggest in the UK thanks to its 100,000-seat capacity.
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A roadblock that Man Utd might face with the development of the ‘Wembley of the North’ stadium
Man Utd’s new stadium has an ambitious target for completion, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos team hopes to have Old Trafford’s successor completed by at least 2030.
However, news around the ‘Wembley of the North’ stadium has been limited, despite Ineos committing to the project after taking control of football operations at United.
According to The Guardian in 2025, United had held talks with haulage company Freightliner over buying land for where the new stadium would be built.
The newspaper reported that Freightliner would demand a hefty £400m for the land, while Man Utd co-owner Ratcliffe had no plans to meet the whopping valuation.
BBC Sport now reports that United could wait for the Manchester Mayor’s office to ‘trigger a compulsory purchase order’ on the location that Freightliner owns.
However, the publication reports that United’s ‘preference’ would be against the ‘couple of years’ it would take for the Mayor’s office to act on its measure.
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Omar Berrada breaks his silence on Man Utd’s stadium project amid the current uncertainty around Old Trafford’s successor
Omar Berrada appeared on the latest episode of Manchester United’s official podcast and teased that further information could come out soon about the new venue.
“Hopefully, we’ll have some news to share in the next weeks or months,” he said on Inside Carrington.
“Once we’ve secured the land and we know the exact location of where the new stadium could be, then we will proceed to finalise the design at the stadium, which will then lead us to have a very good understanding of what the potential cost is.”
United will continue to play their football at Old Trafford amid the Premier League club’s ongoing commitment to building the 100,000-seat stadium.
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