A report this morning claims that Manchester United’s plans to build their new 100,000 seater stadium could be under threat after talks over using the rail freight terminal to complete the Old Trafford Regeneration Project have stalled
A report in the the Guardian says that
“United have held talks with Freightliner, the haulage company that owns and operates the terminal, about buying the land, but negotiations are deadlocked due to a disagreement over the price.”
It adds that “the company is seeking around £400m for the land, with United valuing it at between £40m and £50m.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe it adds, has made it clear United are unwilling to accept the asking price set by Freightliner’s parent company, Brookfield, and initial discussions are believed to have reached an impasse.
United plan to construct a £2 billion 100,000-seater venue next to their current Old Trafford home that Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to see become ‘Wembley of the North’.
A source has told The Guardian that Freightliner “have United over a barrel”. While they are happy to move, they are in no rush to do so. It is claimed that “United’s options at this stage would be to increase their offer, wait for Freightliner to lower its demands, or scale back the project so that the freight terminal land is not required”.
