Chelsea facing prospect of making Wembley their home for five years

Chelsea could end up copying Tottenham Hotspur, and move their home games to Wembley, but the Blues might be there for five years.

It's been a hell of a few months for Chelsea, with so much upheaval since Roman Abramovich sold the club to American Todd Boehly.

The new owner has certainly not slowed down with the spending, carrying on where his predecessor left off in the transfer window, and splashing the cash on some big names.

The latest of those joined in midweek, with Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix arriving on loan until the end of the season for a £9 million loan fee.

That signing took their transfer spend up to around £400 million, just since the start of the season, and they've been linked with even more incomings, such as Enzo Fernandez, who now looks set to stay at Benfica.

However, it's unlikely the spending is going to end any time soon, although it's not just boosting the squad that will require some big investment.

When buying the club, Boehly also agreed to spend money on a new stadium for the west London club, whether on the current Stamford Bridge site or elsewhere.

According to the Mirror, the club have started investigating their options for the future, and there are fears around staying at their current ground.

That would mean knocking down Stamford Bridge and rebuilding on the site, and that's expected to mean five years, with the Blues using Wembley as a temporary base for that entire time.

Chelsea may have to move away from 'the Bridge.' Image: Alamy

Tottenham had to do the same in 2017, when they knocked down White Hart Lane and built the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the same site.

Chelsea's London rivals started building their new stadium so it didn't disrupt them in the 2016/17 season but as soon as the campaign was over the old ground was knocked down.

They played at the national stadium throughout the entirety of the 2017/18 season, finishing third behind only Manchester City, who won 100 points that season, and Manchester United.

The hope was that they'd only be away for that one campaign but they had to begin the following one at Wembley too, eventually playing their first game at the new ground in April 2019.

Chelsea's redevelopment would likely take much longer, and could leave them at Wembley for as long as 10 years if they knocked Stamford Bridge down and rebuilt it stand by stand.

Chelsea are no strangers to Wembley. Image: Alamy

It's not the first time that the Blues have considered using Wembley, with Abramovich having eyed up the move when he was looking at redeveloping their home ground.

That might have seen them and Spurs having to share Wembley, or the Blues perhaps getting there first and delaying their rival's new ground.

Instead of moving temporarily, the two time Champions League winners could instead look for a different site, with Battersea Power Station amongst sites that have been looked at in the past.