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Manchester United icon Paul Scholes has thrown his weight behind the club’s decision to leave Old Trafford and move into a brand new stadium.
Earlier this week, United announced grand plans to build a state-of-the-art 100,000-seater stadium on the existing site.
The new ground will cost a whooping £2billion to build and will be the catalyst for the regeneration of the wider Old Trafford area.
United unveiled designs and scaled models of the new stadium and surrounding area, which have been conceived by award-winning architect Norman Foster.
Footage of Man United’s proposed new 100,000 seater stadium has been released, narrated by Gary Neville 🔴
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Speaking on TNT Sports, Scholes insisted that while he has many happy memories from his playing days at Old Trafford, the time is right for United to move on.
The 11-time Premier League winner also admitted to being impressed by what he has seen so far.
“I was quite excited about it, obviously this stadium holds a lot of happy memories for me.”
“But look, I have played in some of the greatest stadiums in the world. You look at the Santiago Bernabeu and the Nou Camp, the San Siro, they’ve got great history.”
“This place has got that type of great history about it as well, but I think it is time that Manchester United caught up stadium-wise. As much as it will be sad to say goodbye, I think the time is right to move to a new, better, bigger, brilliant stadium that it looks like this one is going to be.”
Scholes also lauded Sir Jim Ratcliffe for being communicative and open with fans – something the Glazers have consistently failed to do since they assumed control of United.
“I do [like the look of it], it looks fantastic. “If it is deliverable, I don’t know how much it is going to cost. If that money can be raised I don’t know but I hope so.”
“I think it has been an exciting week in some ways, an owner actually communicating with the fans and the people of Manchester, which has not happened for quite some time now.”
“I know they are only words and things need to be proven, but there were some exciting things in there. I always think the team is the most exciting thing and the most important thing.”
United are aiming to complete construction of the new stadium in five years.
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