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After what seemed to take an eternity, Manchester United finally announced that INEOS had acquired a minority stake in the club and were taking charge of sporting affairs.
The new co-owners have changed the structure of the club behind-the-scenes and have backed Erik ten Hag with quite a few players in the summer transfer window.
Not only on the pitch, INEOS have started a lot of work off it with plans for a new stadium going on in full swing. The club had two options — either upgrade the current Theatre of Dreams or build a new one.
One of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s great wishes is to build a new Old Trafford in place of the existing stadium and the club had created a task force to figure out the best way forward.
Old Trafford future
Recently, it was revealed that the club, Trafford Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have entered into a strategic partnership to help rejuvenate the area surrounding the stadium.
INEOS now need to find the source of funds with reports claiming the club had spoken to the Bank of America about raising the capital needed to fund the project.
While there has been no update on that front, Football Insider have claimed that Sir Jim is thinking about putting in more equity to fund the stadium.
And as per their agreement with the deeply unpopular Glazers, any new investment will see INEOS’ shares increase while diluting Glazers’ shares.
The petrochemical giants’ had promised £235 million worth of investment on infrastructure with work going on at Carrington. That saw their share rise to 27.7 per cent from an initial 25 per cent.
“Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe could put more equity into the club to help fund the new stadium project, sources have told Football Insider.
INEOS share to rise
“Ratcliffe has been exploring various potential avenues to finance the project since purchasing his 27.7 per cent stake at Old Trafford in February this year.
“Sources have told Football Insider Ratcliffe could put more equity into United to help fund the new stadium, leading to him taking a much bigger stake and diluting the Glazers’ shares as a result.”
The once-glorious stadium is currently a symbol of the mismanagement of the American family with the roof leaking after the slightest bit of rain while toilets and the concourse need quite a bit of work.
Fans have been crying out for some attention to be paid to Old Trafford and finally, INEOS seem to be doing just that. While a new stadium is not a unanimously popular choice, hard decisions need to be taken to take the club back to the top.
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