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Chelsea Stamford Bridge redevelopment truth amid Todd Boehly ownership saga

Chelsea's current home - Stamford Bridge
-Credit: (Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)


Chelsea's future at Stamford Bridge remains firmly up in the air as their takeover saga rumbles on.

Last week, reports emerged that Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's Behdad Eghbali were at loggerheads with each other regarding the ownership of the club. It was believed that one of the factors regarding Boehly's dissatisfaction was due to the lack of progress being made on Stamford Bridge's redevelopment.

Football.london understands that the relationship between Boehly and Eghbali remains cordial but the fact remains that little progress has been made on the stadium. Boehly is believed to be keen on expanding Stamford Bridge's capacity beyond the current 42,000.

However, this desire has been tempered by logistics. Ultimately, the issues around increasing the capacity of the stadium come down to the vicinity of Stamford Bridge.

There are a number of retail and residential properties who would need to be approached before the Blues started making mass changes to their stadium. Chelsea would also need to take into account the local Brompton Cemetary which sits just next door.

Such difficulties about expanding Stamford Bridge led to reports on Tuesday from The Guardian that the Blues had begun discussing the possibility of building a new stadium at Earl's Court. However, those plans have also take a hit after the Earl's Court Development Company (ECDC) insisted there were no immediate plans for Chelsea to relocate to their area.

READ MORE: Major Earl's Court update

READ MORE: Boehly has already addressed Stamford Bridge 'priority'

So for now, Chelsea have reached a brick wall and progress has stalled. A decision on which direction Chelsea go in next shall only likely be agreed once the ownership saga is concluded.

Eghbali is thought to be relaxed about Boehly's desire to purchase Clearlake Capital's shares. The Iranian businessman has no desire to leave the club yet nor does he need to for financial reasons either.