Manchester City's new owners are ready to spend more than £100million to buy the club's rented stadium at Eastlands - and are already looking at how they can increase the 48,000 capacity.
Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, the man behind the consortium that agreed a £210m buy-out of City last week, is ready to press ahead with a plan devised by former owner Thaksin Shinawatra to purchase the City of Manchester Stadium from the local council.
Al Fahim wants to buy the stadium and surrounding land so that he can build a sports and leisure complex that would make City the envy of football.
City will fill the ground for the first time in two seasons when they play Chelsea next Saturday after demand for tickets exploded in the aftermath of the takeover.
A club insider said: "The plan is to make this the biggest club in the world, so we can't play in a stadium that Manchester United fans mockingly call the Council House."
