Chelsea will remain at Stamford Bridge and expand the pitch’s capacity to 55,000 if Todd Boehly loses his boardroom battle with Behdad Eghbali.
As reported by The sunthere is disagreement between co-owners Boehly and Eghbali about the future of the club.
Boehly would prefer to see Chelsea find a new home and has set his sights on a new 60,000 capacity stadium at Earls Court.
However, Eghbali is in favor of a £1.5 billion renovation of Stamford Bridge, which currently has a capacity of 40,000 people.
The pair want to buy each other out, with the proposed Earl’s Court project looking increasingly unlikely.
Chelsea will remain at Stamford Bridge and expand pitch capacity to 55,000 if Todd Boehly (L) loses his boardroom battle with Behdad Eghbali (R)
Boehly wants Chelsea to build a new stadium at Earls Court, but Eghbali would rather improve Stamford Bridge
If Chelsea were to expand Stamford Bridge, they would have to temporarily move out of the ground for two years.
There are plans to improve the West Stand, including building concrete decks over a nearby railway line.
Eghbali does not want Stamford Bridge to be demolished and is wary that building a new stadium on the existing site could take up to five years.
Last month, former Chelsea defender William Gallas criticized the civil war between Boehly and Eghbali. Gallas described the situation as “a real mess.”
Eghbali does not want Stamford Bridge to be demolished and would focus on expanding the stadium
Gallas, who played for Chelsea between 2001 and 2006, told Prime Casino: ‘The club is in a real mess. I think it’s always difficult when you have two groups of people, or two interests in one football club. There must be total coordination if you want to have a successful club, both on the field and in the boardroom.
‘The best clubs have one leader, with everyone going in the same direction. It’s not difficult to get the structure right at an elite club with Chelsea’s resources, but it happens everywhere. The best owners don’t want to get involved.
‘They provide support, but most of these guys have no expertise in football or running football clubs. They employ a sporting director; the Sporting Director determines the philosophy and brings in the players and the right coach. It’s a simple chain of command.’
