In pictures: First images of £150m arena next to Manchester City stadium

The US entertainment specialist behind a new 20,000-plus capacity arena in the shadow of Manchester City’s Etihad stadium has unveiled the first images of the project.

Last week Building revealed that Bam was set to take the £150m construction contract having pipped Sir Robert McAlpine and Laing O’Rourke to the job.

Los Angeles-based entertainment developer Oak View Group launched a consultation on the £300m plans in October last year.

The proposed site is a derelict plot, owned by City Football Group, the holding company of Manchester City, on the approach to the Etihad stadium, originally built by John Laing.

Designed by Populous, the venue will have a capacity of up to 23,500 would be a focal point of the Etihad campus and be a rival to the 21,000 capacity Manchester Arena in the city centre which celebrates its 25^th anniversary this July.

The developer said it would submit a planning application in the coming weeks and is hoping to start on site later this year as it eyes a 2023 opening date. Construction is due to take three years.

The job, known as Project Bradford, after the area of Manchester where it will be built, will be Oak View’s second in Europe after a 15,000- seat ice hockey arena in Milan.