Omar Berrada, Manchester United chief executive: "Our ambition is to have the best team - both men's and women's - playing in the best stadium. A new stadium will be a game changer. We will like to build a new stadium to accommodate the fans. I think this will make a massive difference."

Manchester United believe the new stadium can be completed in five years.

But how can it happen?

Lord Norman Foster, head of the architects behind the project, said: "By pre-fabrication, by using the network of the Manchester ship canal, bring it back to a new life, shipping in components, 160 of them, Meccano-like.

"And then we rebuild the Old Trafford station and that becomes the pivot.

"The processional way to the stadium, welcoming at the heart of a new sport-led neighbourhood."

More detail is expected to come out soon.

Want to find out more about Manchester United's stadium plans?

Click on this promotional film, which includes an interview with chief architect Lord Norman Foster and plenty more artist impressions of what the proposed stadium will look like - inside and out.

Click the 'watch live' play icon at the top of this page to watch a special edition of The Football News Show, looking at Manchester United's plans to build a new stadium.

Finance expert Rob Wilson is one of the guests on the show, which is being filmed live at Old Trafford.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United's proposed new 100,000-seater stadium is projected to cost an incredible £2bn.

But how will the Premier League club, already £1bn in debt, pay for their new home venue, which they hope to finish in five years?

“It's still quite early and I can’t speculate too much on the funding as a PLC. But it's a very attractive investment opportunity," said United chief executive Omar Berrada, when asked the question.

The new stadium will form part of a wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already given Government backing to the plans.

United say the entire project has the potential to create 92,000 new jobs, bring an additional 1.8 million visitors to the area annually and will be worth an additional £7.3bn per year to the UK economy.

Speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan earlier, the club's co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said: "The financing is not the issue, I think it's eminently financeable. But the detail of that we'd rather talk about in the future. It will be financeable, I think," he said.

As you can imagine, we have had plenty of messages on this topic of Manchester United's new stadium proposals.

We will publish a cross-section throughout the day.

Let's start with your thoughts on the design...

Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) have released this statement following the new stadium announcement:

"Whilst investment is much-needed and welcome, fans remain anxious about what it means and what the consequences will be.

“Will it drive up ticket prices and force out local fans? Will it harm the atmosphere, which is consistently fans’ top priority in the ground? Will it add to the debt burden which has held back the club for the last two decades? Will it lead to reduced investment in the playing side at a time when it is so badly needed?

“We look forward to further consultation with supporters discussing these vital questions with the club. If they are able to produce a new stadium as stunning as the plans suggest without harming the atmosphere, without hiking ticket prices and without harming investment elsewhere, then this could be very exciting. But until the questions are answered, our optimism about plans to make Old Trafford the biggest and the best again will be restrained by caution about what the consequences for fans might be.”

More from Sir Jim Ratcliffe on why Manchester United needs a new stadium: "It just started from the point that we needed a stadium for the stature of Manchester United, it's certainly the most well-known club. I think the UK needs a stadium of that presence in the north of England and this is the best place to build it. At the end of the day, it will also help Manchester United."

Image source, Getty Images

Opened in 1910, Old Trafford is one of the largest stadiums in England but Manchester United's home ground has been in a state of disrepair for some time now.

In May last year, heavy rains led to water pouring off the stadium's roof into parts of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand while other areas of the ground, including the away dressing room, were also affected.

In 2023, a small part of the stadium's ceiling fell on fans during a match while other videos of run-down parts of Old Trafford have also gone viral in recent years.

Old Trafford has not had significant development since 2006, when 8,000 seats were added to the north-west and north-east quadrants.

United are only fifth in Europe in terms of gate revenue, with Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain, Arsenal and Bayern Munich all earning more during the 2023-24 season.

The stadium was not selected as one of the venues for Euro 2028, which will be held in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Lord Seb Coe, who is chairman of the task force looking into Old Trafford regeneration, said: "People from all affiliations and walks of life have come together to drive a project beyond a football ground. This project is an extraordinary project, is based around sport. I will forever be proud sport is the catalyst for this. Manchester United is one of the biggest sporting properties in the world."

Image source, Getty Images

Leaving Old Trafford will be a controversial move for some, but former manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that the club must be "brave" to build a new home "fit for the future".

He said: "Manchester United should always strive for the best in everything it does, on and off the pitch, and that includes the stadium we play in.

"Old Trafford holds so many memories for me personally but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where history can be made."

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham also welcomed the plans: "If we get this right, the regeneration impact could be bigger and better than London 2012. Manchester United could, and indeed should, have the best football stadium in the world.

"To me, that means a stadium that is true to the traditions of the club, affordable to all, with nobody priced out."

And what about the surrounding areas and interior of the new Manchester United stadium, you ask?

Here is what that could look like, designed by the architecture group, Foster + Partners.

More from Sir Jim Ratcliffe on the new stadium: "I think the north of England deserves to have a stadium where England can play, where we can host a Champions League final. We will build an iconic football stadium."

Manchester United have spoken to senior people involved in the most recent large-scale stadium developments, including the rebuild of Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium and the futuristic SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, as part of their extensive background work.

They also spoke to local residents and conducted a fan survey to establish whether supporters would prefer a new build or extensive improvements to the present stadium, which was thought likely to cost £1.5bn.

It is not known what the plan will be for the present stadium, although senior club sources have previously said it would not be cost effective to shrink it for use as a mini stadium for United's women's and youth teams.

"Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world's greatest stadium," said Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

"Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years but it has fallen behind the arenas in world sport."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Lord Coe have just sat in front of me at a presentation in central London.

This is going to be big.

Want to see more? Here are some more concept images that have been released of what the new Manchester United stadium could look like, designed by the architecture group Foster + Partners.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Manchester United have announced plans to build an "iconic" new £2bn 100,000-seater stadium close to Old Trafford.

Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said he wanted to build the "world's greatest football stadium" which the club hopes could be finished in five years.

The decision has been reached after an extensive consultation process around whether to develop the existing stadium or build a new one.

Architects Foster and Partners, who will design the project, said the stadium will feature an umbrella design.

Lord Norman Foster, the company's executive chairman, said: "This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today. It all starts with the fans' experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar.

"The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater, and sheltering a new public plaza that is twice the size of Trafalgar Square."

The club, currently £1bn in debt, are yet to say how they plan to pay for the stadium.

The stadium will form part of a wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area, predicted to be the biggest such project in the United Kingdom since the transformation of the Stratford area that accompanied the 2012 Olympics in London. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already given Government backing to the plans.

United say the entire project has the potential to create 92,000 new jobs, will see the construction of 17,000 new homes and bring an additional 1.8m visitors to the area annually. They add the project will be worth an additional £7.3bn per year to the UK economy.

Image source, Foster and Partners