“The Wembley of the North” – Sir Jim Ratcliffe approves Man United’s £2 billion project to REVAMP Old Trafford

Old Trafford is set to become 'the next Wembley', if Sir Jim Ratcliffe's wish materializes.

“The Wembley of the North” – Sir Jim Ratcliffe approves Man United’s £2 billion project to REVAMP Old Trafford

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has 'approved' a major revamp plan of Old Trafford (Via X/@brfootball & UTDHub)

The Premier League boasts some of the most iconic and admirable stadiums in all of Europe. From Wembley to Anfield and Stamford Bridge to the Emirates, the list goes on. However, one of the few remaining venues that have been largely ‘untouched’ since its inception is set to undergo a rebuild. Yes, we’re talking about Old Trafford – the fortress built in 1910, and immortalized by Sir Alex Ferguson & a long list of legendary footballers.

The stadium has been rightly nicknamed as ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ even though the current state of the club doesn’t do a lot of justice to it. That being said, part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has given the green light for a monumental revamp of the stadium. As per reports, the costs of a potential rebuild will be anywhere between 1 to 2 billion pounds.

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The 71-year-old businessman plans to make Old Trafford the ‘Wembley of the North’, to rival the 90,000-capacity stadium in northwestern London. An undisclosed source claimed,

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Jim is a man in a hurry. He's 71 and wants to get on with it. This is an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy at the club.

There were rumors surrounding a potential renovation of the stadium months ago when 3 ‘options’ were presented to the INEOS chairman.

Manchester United’s defense suffers unfortunate blow with Lisandro Martinez injury

The Red Devils eased their way past West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday. Despite the important win, players and fans were significantly worried at the prospect of defender Lisandro Martìnez being subbed off due to injury. The Argentine had an awkward coming together with West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal, who fell on the former’s knee, thereby injuring him.

Lisandro Martinez
Lisandro Martinez will be out for almost eight weeks. (Via X/@UTDHub)

Even though Erik ten Hag initially claimed that the injury did not look ‘good’, further reports have helped both fans and teammates to breathe a sigh of relief. As per initial medical assessments, the player has suffered an injury to the medial collateral ligament and is expected to be out for eight weeks. Martinez had only recently recovered from a foot injury, which forced him to miss 22 games earlier this season.

To add to United’s confidence, the defender went on the record to say, 

I'll be back out there soon and we will fight together. Always United!

As for the club’s current situation, Erik ten Hag’s men have not known defeat in their last five games, with their sudden burst in form helping them reach sixth position in the league. With Rasmus Højlund finally finding his ‘shooting boots’, fans can expect good things from the club in coming games.

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