Manchester United must address their leaky roof at Old Trafford before deciding on the stadium’s future, following a deluge of water during their defeat to Arsenal.

Manchester United are stuck with their notorious leaky roof until the club decides between bulldozing Old Trafford or redeveloping the stadium.

Torrents of water cascaded onto the pitch and seating areas, and even flooded the away dressing-room, when a thunderstorm broke out towards the end of Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.

The roof has been a symbol of neglect by the Glazer family for many years, and the problem is set to continue until a taskforce set up by new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes a decision on regenerating Old Trafford.

United are understood to have drawn up detailed plans to replace the roof on the ageing Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, and fix it in other areas of the ground, and this remains an option.

However, the club are unlikely to spend millions of pounds and several years on the project when the whole stadium could be knocked to the ground and rebuilt at a cost of £2billion.

In addition, the logistics of installing cranes over the railway line at the back of that stand means the work cannot be done during the season without severely restricting the match-day attendance.

The head of the taskforce, Lord Coe, and other senior figures on it, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and United’s chief operating officer Collette Roche, met with Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer at Old Trafford before Sunday’s game to discuss plans for the stadium, and witnessed the scenes.

United admit that ‘sporadic leaks’ exist in the roof, but insist the flooding inside Old Trafford was caused by an overflowing drainage system that could not deal with the unprecedented deluge as more than a month’s worth of rain fell inside two hours.

The club reassured fans the stadium was fully operational on Monday and that Wednesday’s final home game of the season against Newcastle will not be affected in any way.