Manchester United announced plans to construct a new 100,000-seater stadium to replace their current Old Trafford home back in March 2025, but there has been little progress publicly made in the year since.
The unveiled plans included the stadium featuring an umbrella design and new public plaza, along with three masts labelled as “the trident” that architects say will be 200 metres high and visible from 25 miles away.
Although the club assigned Norman Foster, and his architect group Foster and Partners, to the project to deliver this new £2bn stadium a year ago, the plans have seemingly yet to progress beyond theory.
However, in a new update delivered by journalist Andy Mitten, Manchester United are supposedly making progress on their new stadium project behind the scenes.
What is the latest on Manchester United's new stadium?
Mitten explained on the Talk of the Devils podcast that while the stadium plans may not be publicly progressing, there are signs of advancements being made behind closed doors.
Mitten said that he senses the club feel as if they are making progress on the plans, but they are yet to get to a place where Manchester United can come out and publicly state that they have made any advancements.
One of the main problems appears to be how the club are looking to finance and fund the huge stadium project, with the club already having to scrap the plans for the net feature covering the entire stadium to cut down the cost of the plan.
However, with the new stadium reportedly able to generate £7bn of revenue for the UK economy once completed, the government are allegedly keen to help get the project underway and completed.
As a result, the government could impose a mandatory purchase order on the rail freight hub that would serve as the location for the new stadium.
This has become a major hurdle preventing the stadium from getting started in recent months, with the owners of the land demanding a significantly higher fee than Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are reportedly willing to offer.
Once this hurdle is cleared, the construction of the stadium could quickly get underway, meaning there may be progress on the plans potentially right around the corner.
FGG Says: Sooner the better for Man Utd
Everyone has seen the videos of the Old Trafford roof leaking during the rain, and despite the stadium being one of the most iconic and historic in the world, this is one of many signs that it is time for Man Utd to finally move home.
The sooner these plans finally become reality, the better, as it would not only see them move into a new state-of-the-art stadium, but it could also mark the beginning of a new era for a club that has seemingly clung to its past too much in recent years.
Man Utd need to move on from the Sir Alex Ferguson era and rediscover their identity in this new period, and a brand new stadium could help signal that shift in mentality.