Chelsea 'fear they could be homeless for SIX YEARS if Stamford Bridge revamp'

Chelsea are facing a nightmare dilemma over plans for a new stadium.

Blues chiefs believe they have only two options — spend six years away from Stamford Bridge while it is revamped, or pay over the odds to buy land nearby for a new stadium, according to The Sun.

There is also frustration at the lack of progress under the new owners.

Chelsea's plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge appeared to take a major step forwards last October, after the Stoll Charity trustees granted approval to sell the site of homes of military veterans to the club.

The £80million sale of the majority of the Sir Oswald Stoll Mansions site is subject to contract with completion expected in early 2024.

Chelsea had also weighed up a potential stadium relocation to nearby Earl's Court, but are believed to have focused efforts on a £2billion expansion of their existing 40,341-capacity stadium.

CPO board chair Chris Isitt issued a statement to confirm they expect the club to make a decision on their stadium plans shortly, before warning a potential rebuild could take up to seven years.

'CPO has not yet been informed of any decision made by the Club on its future plans for the stadium,' the statement read. 'We believe their decision is due to be finalised shortly, having worked through all the available options.

'Board members may choose to make their own views clear on the process but cannot of course do so until there is a proposal, and its detail can be properly considered.

'As we understand it, although the purchase of the Stoll site has been agreed, it will be some considerable time before the site can be vacated.

'In addition, a new planning application would be required, even though some of that work was done during the earlier project under Roman Abramovich.

'Once an application has been approved, estimates on the time required for demolition and rebuild vary from four years up to as much as seven years, during which time the Club would need to relocate its home games.'

The CPO reiterated that any vote on a proposal from the club would be open to the group's over 14,000 shareholders, with 75 per cent needing to agree for plans to proceed.

The group added that it continues to sell shares during the redevelopment process.

Earls Court Development Company have denied there are any plans for a football stadium at their site.

'We categorically deny that there are any talks taking place with Chelsea FC about a stadium relocation to the Earls Court site,' a statement read.

'After years of consultation with the local community, we have updated our masterplan proposals and will be releasing updated plans in the coming weeks.

'Our scheme will deliver over 4,000 homes, space for 15,000 jobs, acres of public space and cultural venues, restaurants and community facilities. There is no football stadium in the Earls Court masterplan.'

Chelsea have faced a number of obstacles to making the large-scale renovations under former owner Roman Abramovich.

But funds for the rebuild were put aside as part of the £4.25bn acquisition of the club by co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in May 2022.

Potential work on the stadium, which would aim to increase capacity to 60,000 in line with that of the club's Premier League rivals, would see the Blues playing away from Chelsea for over four years. An expansion would not begin until 2026 at the earliest.

Venues that have been floated to host the club whilst the renovations are being undertaken have included Wembley, Twickenham, and Craven Cottage, where their west London neighbours Fulham play.

Boehly is believed to have held informal talks with Fulham's owner Shahid Khan about the possibility of groundsharing, but although representing the most convenient move just one mile down the road, a spell in Craven Cottage - capacity 25,700 - could see the Blues miss out on key revenue.

Should Chelsea's owners opt for a stand-by-stand refurbishment the work could take significantly longer than four to five years, and independent experts have called Chelsea's proposed 2030 finish date 'optimistic'.