Manchester United insist the 'circus tent' design has not been ditched. Manchester United will look at the potential of a naming rights deal for the 'new' Old Trafford as part of their "sanity, not vanity" approach to the £2bn stadium plans.

United's New Stadium Development chief executive, Collette Roche, confirmed the intention at the unveiling of a draft masterplan for the wider Old Trafford area. It is estimated the 370-acre development will create 48,000 jobs and 15,000 new homes, with the 100,000-capacity stadium 350 yards from their current home on land the club confirmed they acquired last month.

For the first time, the plans highlighted exactly where the stadium will be, although the 'circus tent' design unveiled by minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in March 2025 was missing. Roche insisted the plans were not set in stone and that the club would be speaking to designers Foster and Partners and also consulting with fans about the exact designs over the next few months in the hope there would be "something to share" with supporters either at the end of 2026 or early 2027.

She also said that while no decisions had been made over funding for a project initially estimated to cost £2bn with the potential to rise further, particular attention is being paid to maximising revenue. United are more than £1.3bn in debt because of a combination of legacy costs incurred by the Glazer takeover in 2005, a revolving credit limit and outstanding transfer payments. That is why a naming rights deal - such as those agreed by Arsenal with Emirates and Manchester City with Etihad for their new stadiums - is probable.

"We've been really clear from the onset, this needs to be a sanity project, not a vanity project," said Roche. "I don't know what the stadium will be called but we've been really vocal that we are going to potentially look at naming rights to the stadium. It's an important revenue stream and something we've discussed with our fan advisory board. Everybody realises affordable, accessible ticket prices are really important. 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."

Many supporters are concerned how United will be able to afford to service the current debt. It has been suggested the repayments alone will rise to £50m a year following a refinancing move last month that added another $125m (£93.4m) to the amount owed. At a time when transfer fees and wages for elite players are spiraling, some supporters think the stadium will have a negative impact on performance on the pitch.

"There's not a price," said Roche. "I can't go and get a quote on this right now. We have to go through the design process. It's not helpful to suddenly throw a figure out there. We've still got all the funding options available to us. We can have debt, equity, shares, other investors. We've had a lot of approaches as you'd expect. A few people are saying, 'I want to be part of this. Can I be part of this?' We are not worried about the level of interest. We need to know how much it's going to cost and then what's the best way to pay for it."

Roche conceded it was possible for the costs of large-scale infrastructure projects to spiral "out of control" but pointed to the £50m upgrade of United's Carrington training ground - delivered on time and under budget in August 2025 - as evidence of financial discipline at the club. "People said you're never going to do that - but we did," said Roche.

Roche was flanked by Trafford Council leader Tom Ross. He said no matter who wins the Greater Manchester mayoral election on 30 July, the project would proceed as planned: "The new mayor will be able to sit in the meetings, but not be part of the development corporation itself." Ross also said talks would continue with Freightliner over the land United had hoped to use for their new stadium before switching as talks around costs stalled. The land remains integral to the wider regeneration project.

"The aspiration was to explore having a stadium on Freightliner but in terms of land assembly, the new stadium will be in the right place. As an area development corporation, we have to explore what can be done with the Freightliner land and the wider discussion around the whole strategic train network. But that's not for now. That's a longer-term conversation."

United chief executive officer Omar Berrada was also at the event. Roche played down hints made by Berrada in the United States last month that the project may not proceed, saying "we've gone so far". And she is adamant no public money will be used for stadium construction. "That's not something that we ever wanted to do or thought about," she said. "We, as a football club, need to stand on our own two feet. We need to pay for our stadium for a whole host of reasons. However, this project is massive. It's a lot bigger than the stadium. What we can't do is pay for a new train station or new infrastructure. Our funds will go on the stadium."

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