Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada has told the Old Trafford staff that the Red Devils are aiming to become Premier League champions by 2028 in order to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the club’s formation. Berrada, who joined the club from local rivals Manchester City in June, named the goal as ‘Project 150’, according to reports.
United are currently in the bottom half of the table after an inconsistent start to the new campaign. Having not won a domestic league title since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, the lofty ambitions of returning to the summit of English football will put even more pressure on Erik ten Hag to turn things around quickly.
Berrada Unveils ‘Project 150’ to Staff
Team meeting held amid job uncertainty across the board at Old Trafford
According to the Athletic, Berrada is believed to have unveiled his and the new football operations team’s plans to bring the biggest prize in English football back to the red side of Manchester in a staff meeting. The claims were received with mixed emotions, with many of his employees fearing for their job security after it was confirmed that INEOS would be cutting a quarter of positions at the football club.
In the same discussion, the 46-year-old discussed the importance of the women’s team winning their first WSL title by the same deadline, while trying to ‘strike an inspirational tone’ as he emphasised the importance of hard work. The 150th anniversary of the side, originally called Newton Heath, is not lost on the new men in charge, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe mentioning it after completing his deal to take a minority stake at the Theatre of Dreams:
“I think it’s the club’s 150-year anniversary in 2028… if our trajectory is leading to a very good place in that sort of timeframe then we’d be very happy with that. Because it’s not easy to turn Manchester United into the world’s best football team. The ultimate target for Manchester United — and it’s always going to be thus, really — is that we should be challenging for the Premier League and challenging for the Champions League. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Plans For New Manchester United Stadium Revealed
INEOS investigating potential regeneration of Old Trafford
Another key priority for the new leadership team is addressing the issues with the current stadium. Old Trafford has been left in ruins by the Glazer family since their arrival in 2005. This has led to the growing possibility of the famous arena being demolished in favour of a new state-of-the-art home.
Earlier this week, a model of the potential new stadium was then unveiled at a Labour Party Conference in September 2024 by former Red Devil Gary Neville and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. The aim of this was to receive government backing to move a freight terminal to free up more space for United’s potential new home and help bring in more than £7 billion annually to the UK economy.
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