What we know about Manchester United's Old Trafford redevelopment

Rachel Reeves has confirmed the government will back plans for a major redevelopment of Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium.

United bosses have promised the scheme would create a "world-class" stadium, but would need support from public bodies to unlock the wider regeneration opportunity.

The chancellor said on Wednesday that ministers would support the project, alongside other major schemes including the expansion of Heathrow Airport and upgrades to infrastructure linking Oxford and Cambridge.

However, despite the ambitions outlined, proposals remains at an early stage so far, with further details unlikely to be announced for several months.

Here, Yahoo News UK tries to make sense of what we know so far.

What are the plans for Old Trafford?

The area around the current football ground has seen millions of pounds of investment in recent years.

The Salford Quays area, just across the Manchester Ship Canal, is home to the University of Salford and a major hub for BBC production, including Radio 5 Live broadcasts.

The stadium itself, however, is widely thought to be in need of a major overhaul.

Following his takeover last year, the club's co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe vowed to create the "Wembley of the North" and commissioned a 'task force' of Sara Todd, the leader of Trafford Council, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and football pundit – and former United player – Gary Neville to come up with plans. The task force is chaired by London 2012 Olympics chief Lord Sebastian Coe, who is currently president of World Athletics.

As well as increasing the capacity, it is likely to also include upgrades to housing, leisure, hospitality and transport in the surrounding area.

In an update on its website in January, the club said the possibilities of redeveloping the existing ground or building a brand new stadium both remain under consideration, with club set to decide on the preferred approach ahead of the summer.

A redeveloped Old Trafford could increase the capacity of the existing stadium to 87,000, whereas a new-build stadium would allow capacity to reach 100,000.

The club says a new stadium – plus residential, retail, leisure and business developments – could deliver an extra £7.3bn gross value added to the UK economy

Why is the government backing the plans?

In her speech in Oxford, Reeves said on Wednesday: "The government is backing Andy Burnham’s plans for the redevelopment of Old Trafford, which promises to create new housing and commercial development around a new stadium to drive regeneration and growth in the area."

However, she did not elaborate on how ministers would be "backing" the scheme or when further details would be provided.

While the club will foot the bill for the stadium itself, both the government and Trafford Council will sponsor regeneration initiatives of the wider area.

Burnham said the benefits of the project would be felt "far and wide" and make Manchester the "global capital of football in the rest of the 21st century".

What is the capacity of Old Trafford?

The football ground's current capacity is officially 74,310, but it's eventual size will depend on what direction future plans take, if and when they materialise.

The original recommendation of Ratcliffe's 'task force' was to build an entirely new stadium with a 100,000 capacity.

But if the club opted to stay in the current building and renovate that, the new capacity is expected to be about 87,000.

A final decision on which scheme to pursue is expected to be made by the end of the current football season.