Manchester United have successfully sold out their season tickets for the 2022/23 campaign despite their poor showing across all competitions last term.
The Red Devils started the 2021/22 season with plenty of optimism after the arrivals of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo. There was even the talk of a Premier League title challenge.
However, nothing of that sort happened. United finished a staggering 35 points behind arch-rivals Manchester City, who went on to clinch their fourth English top-flight title in the space of five seasons.
United could only finish sixth in the league standings with 58 points. Their trophy drought also extended for a fifth year. The club are now experiencing their worst period without silverware in 40 years.
Despite the poor showing and fan protests over the ownership, United have gone on to sell out their season tickets (just over 50,000) with the hope of better things to come under new manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag has vowed to revive United’s fortunes and take them back to the top. The Dutchman believes he can end the recent dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool in the league title race.
This is unlikely to happen in the space of one transfer window, and the hierarchy will need to back him for the long-term such that he can build his own squad to put the pressure on their fierce rivals.
While this will take some time, the same goes for United’s anticipated renovation of Old Trafford. United confirmed back in April that the plans are underway to renovate rather than demolish and start up new.
The club’s hierarchy are determined to preserve the heritage and history of the stadium, but it can be said that a complete rebuild of Old Trafford could prove expensive with expenses up to £1 billion.
United would also need to find a temporary home in such an instance. To avoid all this, the plan has been made to modernise Old Trafford and as well as find portions of the stadium to be expanded.
The total cost is likely to be over £200 million. Legends International and Populous have been recruited to provide an ideal masterplan and hopefully, the restoration work will kickstart this summer.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
