Nicky Butt, a former Manchester United midfielder, believes his old club must walk away from Old Trafford and invest in a stadium that can compete with the finest grounds in English football.

Speaking to Midnite, Butt acknowledged that supporters would feel the pull of nostalgia, but insisted that sentiment alone cannot justify remaining in a venue that is falling further behind its rivals. He pointed to Arsenal and other top clubs as examples of sides that have embraced modern infrastructure.

Old Trafford has struggled with deteriorating facilities in recent years — leaking roofs and worn seating among the most visible concerns — sparking prolonged debate over whether the club should construct an entirely new 100,000-capacity stadium or undertake a sweeping redevelopment of the current site.

Butt on the case for moving

"You look at Arsenal. You look at all these top clubs. You look at all these beautiful stadiums around now. You have to do that," Butt said. "The nostalgia will be like, 'Oh, it's not great, it's not Old Trafford at all.' But if you don't do that, the stadium just gets older and older. It ends up becoming something everyone wants to forget about — how big it used to be, how great it used to be."

Butt also raised concerns over the commercial dimension of any move, noting that naming rights agreements tend to generate a hostile reaction among supporters. He argued, however, that such a trade-off is an unavoidable feature of modern football.

"There's no point trying to stick there and stay there with it," he added. "It isn't the best stadium in the world. It's not even the best stadium in the country. And United, being the club that they are, should have the best stadium — or at least one of the best stadiums in the country."

Butt concluded that a move was not merely desirable but necessary, and that any relocation or rebuild would need to proceed at pace if it is to remain a viable option.