Ratcliffe outlines vision for 100,000-seater, state-of-art rebuilt Old Trafford

Sir Jim Ratcliffe believes Manchester United should be aiming to emulate Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona by playing in a 'world class' Old Trafford holding up to 100,000 fans.

The Ineos billionaire, who paid £1.3billion to purchase a 27.7 per cent stake in United, has already stated his intention to either revamp Old Trafford or build a new 'Wembley of the North'.

Ratcliffe wants England internationals and even major cup finals to be moved away from Wembley and staged at the new venue.

A taskforce led by Lord Coe and also involving Gary Neville and Andy Burnham will look into the feasibility of building the new Old Trafford and regenerating the surrounding area.

Speaking on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast, Ratcliffe said he wanted to keep pace with the two Spanish giants, who are redeveloping their Bernabeu and Nou Camp homes at present.

'Manchester United are arguably, I would say, the greatest club in the world, but you'd definitely say one of the top three clubs in the world,' he said.

'They are probably the biggest sports brand worldwide. Some of the American brands are quite big but they're not worldwide brands like United.

'It's a bit like Coca-Cola, anywhere you go in the world they've heard of Manchester United. So it needs to have a stadium that's befitting the club and the brand.

'That might have been the case 20 years ago but it isn't the case today. It is the biggest Premier League stadium but it's looking a little bit tired.

'If you look at what Real Madrid are doing with the Bernabeu and Barcelona are doing with the Nou Camp.

'The Bernabeu now is fabulous, I went to see that semi-final two years ago between Manchester City and Real Madrid, and it's just a fabulous stadium. It's like a cauldron of