It's going to be the greatest music arena ever built

BOSS IN BOLD CLAIM AS HE LINES UP 'BIG THINGS' FOR CO-OP LIVE

- CHRIS SLATER

THE boss of east Manchester's new £365 million arena says it will become one of the busiest and most important music venues in the world on the day it opens.

Co-op Live, currently under construction next to the Etihad Stadium in east Manchester, is on track to be completed and host its first events in December next year.

In an exclusive interview with the M.E.N., Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, the American firm behind the project, said they had already 'locked down' some artists for the first flurry of gigs.

And he revealed how the venue on the banks of the Ashton Canal, which he says was inspired by a Bruce Springsteen remark and which Harry Styles helped create, will have 32 bars, restaurants and clubs, but will be a 'big, sweaty hall' inside.

Speaking from the Co-op Live's swanky offices in the Northern Quarter, Tim, 65, said: "You'll be hearing artists and events announced soon. We have some things already locked down. We have some big things locked down."