Sebastian Coe acknowledged that the timescale for constructing Manchester United's new stadium was "slightly uncertain", though he remains confident it is "moving in the right direction". United first unveiled plans to redevelop Old Trafford in March last year, with initial suggestions of a potential completion date for the 2030/31 season.
The plans involved United turning Old Trafford into a 100,000-seater venue and could cost as much as £2billion to complete.
Lord Coe, who spearheaded London's successful 2012 Olympic and Paralympic bid, now chairs the Mayoral Development Corporation overseeing the Old Trafford regeneration scheme.
The former IOC president previously led a task force established by United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to explore stadium possibilities for the club as part of a broader transformation of the local area.
Coe is now playing a crucial role in the development of the 100,000-capacity venue, which Ratcliffe envisions becoming the 'Wembley of the north'.
Yet he acknowledged that securing the land required for the scheme - estimated to cost around £2billion - was proving "complicated".
Speaking on The Sports Agents podcast, Coe said: "I love regeneration projects and I was really pleased to be asked to get involved in that.
"I do actually believe in good, locally-funded projects to make lives easier for local people.
"And I also saw from the London model that if you build it around sport, the multiplier impact of getting other stuff done is far quicker than it would have been.
"Land acquisition is always complicated. I know that from London, so, at this moment, it's just putting the stuff together sequentially and incrementally and using a world-class stadium to be a catalyst for so many other things, including inward investment.
"So, it's about jobs, it's about housing, it's about educational aspiration, and I've seen sport so often used properly, changing local landscapes, and this is an exciting project."
As for the timescale, Coe added: "Well, again, it's slightly uncertain at the moment. The stadium is being scoped and being improperly scaled.
"But again, that is also dependent on the purchasing and the acquisition of various other parcels of land in that space.
