Manchester United have admitted their proposed 100,000-capacity stadium may pile more debt onto a club already £1.3bn in the red, but insisted the project is “a sanity, not vanity project”. Collette Roche, chief executive of the stadium development, confirmed the club will look at selling naming rights to the new ground, which is to be built 350 yards north-west of Old Trafford on land acquired last month. “We’ve been really vocal that we are going to potentially look at naming rights to the stadium,” Roche said. “It’s an important revenue stream.”
The draft masterplan, unveiled on Thursday, shows the stadium sitting within a 370-acre development expected to create 48,000 jobs and 15,000 new homes. The ‘circus tent’ design unveiled by minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in March 2025 was absent from the plans, but Roche insisted it had not been ditched. Foster and Partners remain the designers and the club will consult fans over the coming months, with a hope to share something by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
“Manchester United plan to sell naming rights for a new £2bn stadium despite £1.3bn debt”
Roche acknowledged the financial strain. “This needs to be a sanity project, not a vanity project,” she said. “You’ve seen from the way we now run the club, having control of our costs is really important. You’ve seen where we are financially, which we are improving.” Since Ratcliffe’s arrival two years ago, the club has cut about 450 jobs as part of a finance-tightening drive. United’s debt, a legacy of the Glazer takeover in 2005 alongside a revolving credit limit and outstanding transfer payments, was further swollen last month by a refinancing that added $125m (£93.4m) to the amount owed. It has been suggested annual repayments alone could rise to £50m.
Chief executive Omar Berrada said in March 2025 that £2bn was the working cost of the stadium. Roche refused to put a fixed price on the project now. “That is the $2bn question,” she said. “We can look at what other stadiums cost but we’re going to be building a very different stadium, bigger than any other: 100,000 seats. So there is not a price I can go to.” All funding options remain on the table, including debt, equity, shares or other investors, and Roche said the club has had “a lot of approaches” from interested parties.
Roche pointed to the redevelopment of the Carrington training ground, completed on time and on a £50m budget, as evidence of discipline. “I know things can go out of control,” she said. “People said that with me on Carrington: ‘You’re never going to do it in that time, for that price.’ We did because we were disciplined.”
A naming rights deal – following the model of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium – is probable. “Everybody realises affordable, accessible ticket prices are really important,” Roche said. “In order to do that, we need to generate revenue streams in other places. Everyone said building a new stadium is going to be really expensive.”
But for a fanbase already concerned about the club’s ability to service its existing debt, the prospect of borrowing billions more raises an uncomfortable question: how much is ‘sanity’ worth when it comes with another zero on the balance sheet?