Rio Ferdinand has sent a clear message to Manchester United's owners the Glazers over building a new stadium, but disagreed with former teammate Gary Neville in the process.
The United owners are being pressured to invest more into the club's facilities and infrastructure, in particular in their Old Trafford stadium, which Neville previously claimed had been left to "tire" and look "old".
It is Neville who has led the calls for the Glazers to put their hands in their pockets, and he laid out a five-point plan this week for the American businessmen, which included demolishing the stadium and building a new one from scratch.
After listing paying off the clubs debt and making shares available to fans, Neville continued: "They can then rebuild that stadium with £1billion, and it does probably need knocking down to be fair. It doesn’t need renovating, it needs a new stadium.
"That money can be funded from a 20-year contract by getting a sponsor in at £60-70million a year, call it ‘Something’ Old Trafford, but we have a brand new stadium, and again it resets the culture of Manchester United having the best stadium in the world. That needs to happen." Neville also suggested building a new training ground and putting further funds into a "sporting project" in his plan, or urged the Glazers to sell up.
However, fellow United legend Ferdinand appeared to contradict Neville with his own views on stadiums when he was present at Anfield for Liverpool's Premier League clash with Watford on Saturday. Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group opted against moving away from Anfield in favour of investing in its redevelopment, with a new Main Stand having since been built, while the Anfield Road end is currently undergoing a revamp said to cost in the region of £80million.
Reflecting on Liverpool's success down the years on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: "I think when looking back at the memories of those fantastic players, the one thing that remains is the stadium. I think that is a huge part of it.
"We are talking about refurbishing the stadium that was here before, because of the history, you walk in to place like Anfield and smell the history of the football club and the events that have gone on. Staying here at Anfield and rebuilding what they have, is a huge statement.
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"You can build a big stadium, you can easily do that but you lose so much doing that, but staying here and keeping that atmosphere with their European nights, is so important for years to come."
Ferdinand's comments suggest he would be in favour of United staying at their same Old Trafford home where they have played since 1910.
Arsenal have found it difficult to create the same atmosphere at Emirates Stadium since moving from their beloved Highbury in 2006. West Ham have also faced backlash from disgruntled fans after upping sticks from their Upton Park home to the London Stadium in 2016.
Tottenham are the most recent club to build a brand new stadium, but did so on the same land as their previous White Hart Lane ground, while Everton are set to move from Goodison Park to a new state-of-the-art venue at Bramley-Moore dock in 2024.
