Manchester United have secured the majority of the land required to build their new 100,000-seater stadium as the club ramps up plans to create the largest facility in the United Kingdom.
United will continue to work on acquiring the remaining land that is needed but no issues are expected in doing so.
Your Site News understands United believe the land acquired for their new stadium, which is 350m away from Old Trafford, is seen as the best option to build their new home, as well as for the wider Greater Manchester Regeneration project.
A huge obstacle that could have delayed the project was understood to be the need to acquire the land owned by Freightliner.
However, this has been avoided with the 25-acre triangle the club has purchased between Europa Way, Wharfside Way and John Gilbert Way.
Details on the master plan for Old Trafford regeneration and the formal consultation period will be released on July 9, with the club now focused on the design phase of their stadium in cooperation with the fan base.
United have spent the last 115 years at Old Trafford, which currently holds nearly 74,000 spectators, and are expected to continue to play at Old Trafford while the new stadium is built.
The new stadium, referred to as 'New Trafford' in a briefing document, will feature an umbrella design which, according to its architects, will harvest solar energy and rainwater. It will take five years to construct.
It will also include three masts that will make it visible from 40km away.
In an intriguing aside, United believe the new stadium will therefore be visible, on a clear day, from 'the outskirts of Liverpool'.
At 100,000 capacity, Manchester United's proposed new stadium will rank as the second-biggest in Europe, behind only Barcelona's Camp Nou, which is being taken up to 105,000 by restoration works.
It will be the biggest in England, overtaking Wembley Stadium which has a capacity of 90,000.
Old Trafford's current capacity is 74,879.
The New Stretford End alone will have a capacity of 23,500, distributed over lower and upper tiers.
