Manchester United’s €2.5bn stadium plan set to pile on debt

Bankers are debating how difficult it might be to borrow the €2.5bnneeded to build the giant 100,000-seater venue

While Manchester United has been struggling on the pitch in recent years, the club is unlikely to be short of financiers willing to help.

Manchester United Plc’s surprise announcement this week of plans for a new 100,000-seater stadium was the easy bit. Now it needs to find the money.

Bankers are debating how difficult it might be to borrow the £2bn (€2.5bn) needed to build the giant venue. Lenders could provide between £1bn (€1.2bn) to £1.5bn (€1.78bn) of debt, according to sources familiar with the market for funding. That would leave a void that might need to be filled with equity, they said, asking not to be identified because any deal would be private.