ADREAM BUILD

Plans unveiled for 100,000 seater stadium bigger than Wembley would kick start most significant regeneration project since London Olympics, says Mayor Andy Burnham

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

A MAN wearing a replica Roy Keane shirt and his son are walking towards the famous 'Holy Trinity' statue of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton.

But this isn't your usual matchday father-son moment - something is very different. Instead of the still iconic but ailing Old Trafford stadium, they are walking hand-inhand towards a huge bright red bowl emblazoned with the famous United crest across its side.

It's not real or not yet, anyway.

It's a digital mock-up of how Old Trafford might look if United's billionaire co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's ambitious plans to build a 'Wembley of the north' are realised.

It's the latest, albeit incomplete and tantalising, glimpse of how the proposed 100,000-seater stadium would look, if it is ever built.

Die-hard United fans have watched in dismay as first their team has habitually underperformed since the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired more than a decade ago. The state of the ailing stadium has been emblematic of a decline on the pitch.

So the image-and others released by Manchester United to illustrate how the stadium would look amid a £4.2bn regeneration of the surrounding area - is cause for hope, not just for supporters but because of the 48,000 jobs and 5,000 new homes that could be created if the plans are realised.

The Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force, chaired by Lord Sebastian Coe, has concluded that a simple redevelopment of Old Trafford would increase its capacity to 87,000 while a new stadium would hold 100,000 fans, far exceeding the 90,000 capacity of Wembley and making it the biggest arena in the country.