Manchester United are reportedly considering the ‘heresy’ of selling the Old Trafford naming rights

Last year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe told the Mirror that the prospect of selling the naming rights for Old Trafford “would be heresy” – but it now appears to be on the table.

Or at least they found a loophole.

According to reports, originally in The Athletic, the club are exploring options should they either build a new stadium or carry out an extensive renovation of the current one.

United is said to have been in “exploratory discussions” with institutions including Bank of America as it considers how to raise capital.

The well-publicised problems with the current Old Trafford are well known. Ratcliffe himself described it as “the third highest waterfall in Britain” since the rain flooded it last season.

The 114-year-old stadium has always been known as Old Trafford and last July Ratcliffe told the Mirror that he had “not considered” renaming Old Trafford.

“That would be heresy. I wouldn’t change it. It’s always Old Trafford,” he declared.

Hence the loophole, as if it remains in situ and only construction work is carried out, then the club can pursue an ‘associate partner’ rather than selling the full stadium naming rights. This would be a similar situation to Wembley, which is ‘EE connected’ rather than being EE Wembley Stadium.

Which brings us to the ‘Wembley of the North’. If the project is given the green light, then a multi-million pound deal to sell naming rights would most likely form part of that funding.