Man United relying on old boy for advice and input on the new Old Trafford

One of the major things that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have to attend to now that his partial takeover of Man United has been fully agreed is to decide what to do with Old Trafford.

Do the new regime decide to expand the current Theatre of Dreams, or should they build a new 90,000 seater capacity stadium adjacent to their current one and on land that the club own?

Those and many other questions are likely to be debated and discussed for a while yet, until a general consensus can be reached and the project moved forward.

It’s clear that INEOS want to take their responsibilities seriously, so all options are likely to be considered.

According to The Times (subscription required), Sir Jim has asked former player and outspoken critic of the club, Gary Neville, to come on board and offer his advice and input.

Given that he already owns Hotel Football, which is directly outside Old Trafford, and University Academy 92 just down the road, Neville clearly understands the locale.

He has indicated a willingness to be involved as long as it doesn’t conflict with his job at Sky Sports where he works as a co-commentator and analyst.

It does show that INEOS are similarly willing to embrace new ideas or points of view which can only be healthy for the future of the club.