Manchester United shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe favours building a new 100,000-seater stadium, rather than redeveloping the existing Old Trafford.

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Article continues below

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• Ratcliffe keen to develop new stadium
• Favours 100,000-seater project over Old Trafford revival
• Keen to build next to current Man Utd home

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  United have had plenty of issues with their iconic Old Trafford stadium in recent years, most notably a leaky roof during heavy downpours of rain. The arena has required some love and attention for a while but reports say Ratcliffe would prefer to build a brand new home for the Red Devils. The Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force have carried out research and concluded that both a new stadium and a revamp of the Theatre of Dreams are possible, with a final decision set to be made ahead of the summer.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The task force concluded that a regeneration project would allow the club to increase Old Trafford's current capacity to 87,000, while a new stadium would seat 100,000, making it one of the largest in the world. Artists have drawn up impressions of what the stunning new build would look like, leaving some United fans excited by the prospect, with others keen to remain at their historic ground.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Reports suggest the cost of building a new stadium would fetch around £2-2.3 billion ($2.8bn). A revamp of Old Trafford, meanwhile, would cost around half of that sum, although part of the Sir Bobby Charlton stand would have to be closed while renovations are ongoing.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?

  While fans await a decision on their future home, work is still being done behind the scenes to cut costs by Ratcliffe. The INEOS CEO has come under fire for laying off staff and cutting benefits, despite the millions of pounds being forked out on the team not yielding any results yet under Ruben Amorim.