Manchester United unveil £2bn plan to build Britain's biggest stadium

A new 100,000-seat stadium that will be the largest in the UK; a venue covered in a "vast umbrella" that would exceed the scale of Christo's wrapping of the Reichstag in 1995; a trident of masts, the tallest of which is higher than any other building in Manchester.

- Paul MacInnes

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's vision for a new Old Trafford is taking shape, and the ambition extends beyond the "Wembley of the North".

Designs were unveiled yesterday for Manchester United's proposed new home, to be built on the site of the Old Trafford car park. The project was initiated by a call from Ratcliffe to Norman Foster and scoped out by a taskforce led by Sebastian Coe, and the cast list endorsing it is gold-plated. At a projected cost of £2bn, and to be assembled using prefabricated "modules" shipped down the Manchester ship canal, it could be delivered in five years, the architects suggest. Foster + Partners hopes to begin work this year.

For Ratcliffe, the United co-owner, the new Old Trafford is designed to grab the attention of the world and rebalance sporting infrastructure in favour of the north of England. "I think a really good example is the Eiffel Tower," he said by way of comparison. "Everyone around the world knows the Eiffel Tower: you go to Paris, you stay in Paris, you spend money. We have 1 billion people around the world who follow Manchester United. I think everybody in the world who's interested in football will want to visit Old Trafford.