Chelsea open talks over West Ham groundshare as Wembley option fades

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April 4 – Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are competing for more than just the Premier League title. They both want to use Wembley Stadium while their own grounds are being redeveloped.

Discussions between Chelsea and the FA over use of Wembley are on-going but the west London team have also re-opened discussion over using the London Stadium in east London – the 2012 Olympic Stadium that is now home to West Ham.

Chelsea, who have been given the planning go-ahead to re-develop Stamford Bridge, would likely need a stadium as early as the start of the 2018-19 season. The Chelsea development overlaps with the final stages of the White Hart Lane development – which looks like it may be delayed by slow-paced local public infrastructure works.

Spurs have extended their deadline of March 31 to April 30 in terms of finalising a reported £15 million deal with Wembley.

This has pushed Chelsea into looking at groundshare options with West Ham in case an agreement can’t be reached with the FA on Wembley.

Chelsea say they have looked at all other possibilities around London but have not  found suitable alternatives. A deal with the national rugby stadium Twickenham met opposition from Rugby Union  and local residents, while the club ruled out Fulham, Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers’ grounds as being too small.

Ground sharing with Arsenal was also ruled out due to limits on the number of events it can stage.

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