Ratcliffe's £245M investment 'will not touch the sides' in Old Trafford revamp

A planned £245million infrastructure injection from Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘will not touch the sides’ when it comes to a redevelopment of Old Trafford.

That is the view of industry insiders - after details of additional investment from the petrochemicals billionaire emerged earlier on Friday.

Mail Sport understands Ratcliffe’s £1.3bn deal for 25 per cent of the fallen Premier League giants, which is thought to be the first step of a structured buyout, is likely to be announced in the next fortnight, although that schedule is subject to change.

And Ratcliffe is also likely to commit £245m from his own personal fortune to improving infrastructure at United, with the majority of what would be staggered funding due before the end of the year.

The news is likely to be welcomed by the club’s supporters, given it is a marked shift away from the approach taken by current owners the Glazer family, who have drained vast sums out of United’s coffers.

However, industry experts have warned that the sum – should it be spent in its entirety on what is a decaying Old Trafford – will not be transformative.

United had stadium designers draft a number of proposals for potential refurbishment of their iconic home, which included razing it to the ground and building a new home.

Costs were estimated between £1bn and £2bn - far above the amount promised by Ratcliffe.

Those with knowledge of the stadium and surrounding market costs, say that £245m would be well short of the amount needed to fully demolish the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand and rebuild it to the height of the club’s other three stands.  Such a project would require the installation of a concrete decking over the adjacent railway line while the demolition is carried out. The cost of the concrete itself would be significant, thanks to recent price rises.

‘Even if all of this is spent on the stadium and not the training ground it will be a long way short of what is needed,’ one source explained. ‘It would be safe to say this will not touch the sides. There is a huge amount of work needed.

'If they were to extend the South (Sir Bobby Charlton) Stand to increase the capacity and create thousands of new corporate hospitality places then they would need more than this. That’s before you talk about the roof, the other stands and the training ground.’

It is widely accepted that Old Trafford is in dire need of an upgrade, with videos of its leaky roof often going viral. The demise of the venue was underlined when it was not chosen as one of the venues for the joint UK and Ireland bid for the European Championship in 2028.

Ratcliffe has seen off competition from rival bidder, Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, who had vowed to invest an initial £800m in infrastructure alongside a complete takeover.