Manchester United rule out selling £20m Old Trafford naming rights

Manchester United have ruled out selling the naming rights for Old Trafford in the immediate future despite a 12% rise in the club's debt.

The club's third quarterly results for the 2014-15 season saw debt soar to £395.4m ($622m) during a week that marks 10 years since the Glazer family took over the 20-time English league champions.

Reports suggest the club could demand as much as £20m from potential sponsors per season if they were to offer naming rights but United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward says there are no current plans to enter such an agreement.

"I think the comment was that we had no intention of doing a process to sell naming rights relating to Old Trafford," he said during a conference call to investors. "I have no idea where that £20m came from. We are not sitting here with an offer we are ignoring, no."

Naming rights agreements are becoming an increasingly common source of income for clubs across Europe, with Arsenal earning £30m per season for their association with Emirates.

The drawback for teams looking to use their stadium naming rights to help bolster their coffers is the risk of further disenchanting supports by altering the name of a ground entrenched within the club's history.

Though United are odds-on to qualify for next season's Champions League, needing a point from their final two Premier League matches to guarantee finishing in the top four, failure to reach Europe's premier club competition in future campaigns could force the owners' hand.

Teams that reach the group phase of the European Cup are guaranteed at least £8.9m, with an additional £1.1m available for every win. A £20m windfall per season could offset any failure to finish in the top four, with places becoming increasingly more competitive every season.

Old Trafford has been United's home since 1910 and the club remain within a select band of sides including Aston Villa, Everton, Liverpool and Chelsea whose grounds remain unchanged.

Newcastle United supporters responded in anger after owner Mike Ashley renamed St James' Park as the Sports Direct Arena, only for the move to be reversed when the rights were sold to loan company Wonga.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are understood to be considering selling the naming rights to Anfield following the completion of the redevelopment of the Main Stand, which will see the stadium's capacity increase to 53,500.