. With the club revealing blueprints of a proposed redevelopment of Stamford Bridge that is expected to increase its capacity to 60,000, Chelsea FC are considering Wembley as a temporary home, but face competition from Tottenham Hotspur for the iconic venue
Chelsea FC have long been exploring plans to increase the capacity of Stamford Bridge, with the club taking a major step forward in that process by hosting a three-day consultation with local residents last week, where detailed designs for each stand of a 60,000 seater were made available for public viewing.
The upgrade is likely to leave the Blues looking for a new home for three seasons, and Londona s Wembley stadium has been touted as a potential venue for the cluba s home games for the duration of the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge.
An exclusive report in English newspaper The Times suggests that Chelsea FC have made a presentation to Wembley Stadiuma s board and are prepared to offer A?11m a season for three seasons, possibly starting with the 2017-2018 campaign.
This offer is believed to be higher than that of rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who are reportedly prepared to pay A?8m a season for two seasons. Spursa A?400m stadium expansion has already been approved, and the north London club are hoping to move in to the 56,000-capacity White Hart Lane at the start of the 2018-2019 season.
Exclusive: Chelsea make Wembley offer (by @garyjacob) http://t.co/MFlzjEEnr2 (Marc Aspland) pic.twitter.com/csvlyhSg7J
a Times Sport (@TimesSport) July 7, 2015
Chelsea FC are further behind in the expansion process however, and planning permission for the redevelopment has yet to be applied for. As such a according to reports in British newspaper The Independent a the club are yet to make a firm decision regarding where they will play their home games if and when the expansion process gets underway.
However, due to the restriction on the number of events that can be held at Wembley each year, neither Chelsea nor Spurs will be able to use the stadiuma s full capacity of around 90,000. Limiting the available seats to around 50,000 would be a way of circumventing those restrictions and would allow for an unlimited number of matches to be played at the stadium, according to the Daily Mail.
The Blues are still in the consultation phase of the process, however, and any formal offers for the stadium are unlikely to be made any time soon. It is possible that Tottenham have the advantage in that regard, given they have already received the green light for the expansion of White Hart Lane.
As for the immediate future, Stamford Bridge will continue to be the home of the Premier League champions.
