Manchester United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe plots Old Trafford makeover plan to create 'Wembley of the North'

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to turn Manchester United's Old Trafford home into the 'Wembley of the North'.

The Ineos billionaire, who is acquiring a 25 per cent stake in the English giants, has ambitious plans to transform the famous stadium.

A source close to Ratcliffe told The Telegraph he wants to create a 'Wembley of the North' to rival London’s 90,000-seater national stadium.

Ratcliffe could push for Government funding as part of the project through the current Levelling Up strategy.

A new stadium would create jobs and provide a boost to the local economy, which could lead to it gaining Government support.

A source close to Ratcliffe told Telegraph Sport: “He feels the club needs an absolute state-of-the-art, knock-it-out-of-the-park, ‘wow’ stadium.

“And we feel there's a strong argument for the country having a top-class major venue in the North - a Wembley of the North.”

Manchester United last year appointed the architect firm Populous and management consultants Legends International to draw up plans for the redevelopment of Old Trafford.

Both companies worked on Tottenham’s 62,850-seater stadium, which was opened in 2019.

Old Trafford is currently the largest club football stadium in England, with a capacity of just over 74,000, but it was overlooked for the UK and Ireland’s bid for Euro 2028.

It is reported that Ratcliffe is broadly opposed to the prospect of United having to move where they play, but he thinks fans would accept the idea of a new stadium in the area surrounding Old Trafford.

“The spiritual home is important,” a source told the Telegraph. “We think the fans would be quite happy to accept a brand new stadium if we stay where we are.”