Manchester United Reportedly Consider Old Trafford Expansion to 88,000 Capacity

Manchester United are "seriously considering" expanding Old Trafford by more than 12,000 seats, with various extensions bringing the stadium's capacity to 88,000, according to Mike Keegan for the Daily Mail.

The expansion would make Old Trafford the second-biggest stadium in European club football behind Barcelona's Camp Nou (99,354).  

The majority of construction would take place on the Sir Bobby Charlton stand, which could be increased by 7,500 seats. United would then add two "quadrants" on the corners of the same stand to mirror those opposite, as per Keegan.

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The Sir Bobby Charlton stand is currently the smallest at Old Trafford, with just 9,800 seats, and the only stand that has a single tier.

United's last expansion project saw nearly 8,000 seats added in 2006, when the first two "quadrants" were built at a cost of around £42 million, as per Andy Mitten for ESPN FC. This has left the current capacity at 75,635.

United managing director Richard Arnold has said he is "acutely aware" of the need to continue expanding, per Keegan, and such an ambitious project would certainly go down well with supporters. The need for more seating is something that's been highlighted by Manchester Evening News reporter Samuel Luckhurst on Twitter:

Old Trafford would become the second-largest football venue in the country behind Wembley (90,000) and notably bigger than Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu (85,454).

As a result, United would quickly break their own attendance record if the expansion went ahead, which currently stands at 83,260, for a league match against Arsenal at Maine Road in 1948. The current record at Old Trafford is 76,962.

The club are also investigating the possibility of introducing a safe-standing area within the expanded stand, something that has been high on the Premier League's agenda for some time. 

Such a large extension might seem ambitious, but as one of the world's richest clubs United would likely easily recoup their investment.