Sir Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly prepared to sell the naming rights to Old Trafford, which could see the famous stadium renovated or the building of a new ground for Manchester United.

The British billionaire has taken control of the football department as part of his role as a minority shareholder, and he also has huge off-the-field plans for the 20-time English champions.

Last month, Ratcliffe said that there is "a very good case" for "having a stadium of the North".

"There's a very good case, in my view, for having a stadium of the North, which would serve the northern part of the country in that arena of football," Ratcliffe told Sky News. "If you look at the number of Champions League the North West has won, it's 10. London has won two.

"And yet everybody from the North has to get down to London to watch a big football match. And there should be one [a large stadium] in the North, in my view.

Ratcliffe 'prepared to sell Old Trafford naming rights'

"But it's also important for the southern side of Manchester, you know, to regenerate. It's the sort of second capital of the country where the Industrial Revolution began.

"But if you have a regeneration project, you need a nucleus or a regeneration project and having that world-class stadium there, I think would provide the impetus to regenerate that region."

According to The Athletic, the club are given seriously consideration to selling the naming rights to the stadium, whether that is a regenerated Old Trafford or a different ground.

The report claims that initial talks with the Bank of America have taken place, but the move is likely to be hugely controversy among sections of the club's supporters.

Last week, Ratcliffe poked fun at the issues facing Old Trafford, and in particular the leaky roof, claiming that the club have 'the third-highest waterfall in Britain'.

Ratcliffe has poked fun at Old Trafford's leaky roof

"Since the day that Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill retired which was 11 seasons ago and you compare Manchester United with Real Madrid - who have consistently performed well - they are consistently performing where Manchester United should be performing today," Ratcliffe said at The Times CEO summit.

"The net spend on players – and what I mean by net spend is money we've spent on players and the money we've got back on players – is that Man United is £1.1bn and rather surprisingly, Real Madrid is £200m.

"We've got some really good players at Manchester United and some really good young players but let's be blunt, if you look at the squad of Real Madrid and that of Manchester United – Real Madrid have seven players who are valued at over £100m, if you look at Transfermarkt.

"Man United don't have any players worth over £70m-£80m. With the £900m that Real Madrid are better than Manchester United they've built the best football ground in the world, the new Bernabeu, which is absolutely spectacular. In 11 seasons they've got a better squad and managed to build the Bernabeu while we've got a ground which, you know, that one headline said had the third highest waterfall in Britain."

Man United are due to begin their pre-season training on July 8, while their first friendly of the summer will be played against Rosenborg on July 15. body check tags ::