Sir Keir Starmer sees Man United problems first-hand as Sir Jim Ratcliffe calls on his help to fix them

On the day Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Andy Burnham pressed their case for public funding to help build a new stadium for Manchester United, you could say they had the weather heaven-sent.

Even Ratcliffe’s billions can’t buy the weather and even if they could, United’s FFP position wouldn’t allow it. They can't afford a back-up striker, never mind a perfectly timed storm. But the astonishing rainfall that thundered down on Old Trafford in the final moments of Arsenal’s 1-0 win against United only reinforced the desperate need for change.

Gunners fan and Prime Minister-in-waiting Sir Keir Starmer was Burnham’s guest at Old Trafford for the game and Ratcliffe was so keen to get his pitch right he was at the stadium five hours before kick-off. Lord Coe, who leads the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force, was also present.

ALSO READ: United have found their FA Cup final gameplan after gritty Arsenal performance

ALSO READ: Theatre of Streams - Old Trafford is falling down as United reach breaking point

Before kick-off Ratcliffe, Burnham and Coe told Starmer about their desire to transform the Trafford Park area, with a new world-class stadium for United as the focal point. For it to ever see the light of day public funding is essential and given Starmer will hold the strings to the public purse by the end of the year, it made sense to invite the Labour leader.

Starmer was probably watching the final few moments from between his fingers, but if the state of disrepair of Old Trafford was mentioned before kick-off, the evidence came gushing down from all corners at the end of the game. If United avoided embarrassment on the pitch this weekend, they didn’t avoid it off the pitch.

Within half an hour of the final whistle, videos