Take That will tour next summer

Take That may play at the city of Manchester stadium next summer. The `Back For Good’ hitmakers – whose month-long `Circus’ tour was the fastest-selling of all time, with all 650,000 tickets sold in less than four and a half hours – are reportedly getting together for a series of performances at the City of Manchester stadium in north-west England.

An insider revealed to The Sun newspaper: “The club are spending a fortune on a new state-of-the-art pitch. It combines plastic fibres with grass, which makes it very hard-wearing.

“Take That’s management have discussed dates for next June over a minimum of three nights across a weekend.”

The stadium – which is home to British Premier League soccer team Manchester City – hasn’t been used as a performance venue in three years, as the owners were concerned about the damage such events caused to the pitch.

It has not been confirmed whether Robbie Williams – who famously left the band in 1995 following a reported rift with bandmate Gary Barlow – will appear alongside the boyband if they do perform next summer.

However, in recent years the pair have patched up their differences, with Robbie joining the group for a one-off performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall for Children In Need in November 2009.