MUFC Should Be Buying New Players, Not A New Stadium – Paul Merson

Manchester United fans should be fuming with the new 100,000-seater stadium plans by INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Paul Merson has said. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, the £2bn project is clearly pathetic, especially because the club should be focusing on improving the squad rather than new infrastructure when they already have the great Old Trafford.

Paul added that he’d understand if it was Chelsea moving to a new stadium since their current ground is quite small.

His words, “You know what, no interest at all. I think it’s pathetic. If I’m a Man United fan, I’d be fuming. They’re at Old Trafford, which is one of the biggest stadiums in the Premier League.

I could understand if it’s Chelsea, and Chelsea go, ‘we want to move stadium’ because Chelsea get around 38,000 (40,000), so they need a bigger stadium to keep on living with the big boys. But when it’s Man United and they already hold 70-odd thousand, more than anybody else, why would they need a new stadium?

You need new players. They need a team. This is what I can’t work out.

I heard Jim Ratcliffe going, ‘oh, this is going to be a stadium, England will be able to play here.’ Don’t worry about England. Don’t worry about the national team. Worry about Man United. Worry about getting them into the top six, let alone into the Champions League. I just can’t believe what I’ve been seeing over the past couple of days. I’m flabbergasted.”

WOW.

Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in the English football league system.

Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.

Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson’s dismissal, and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league. Despite a second-place finish in 1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season. Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, Ferguson’s job was saved by victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final.

The following season, Manchester United claimed their first UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup title. That triumph allowed the club to compete in the European Super Cup for the first time, where United beat European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1–0 at Old Trafford. The club appeared in two consecutive League Cup finals in 1991 and 1992 the left and the right, but he’s not got any sense of danger yet, and empties the midfield area too readily.