Chelsea's new owners will face a stadium dilemma early, as the European champions are hampered by their modest home capacity.Chelsea's potential purchasers have been deterred by the extra £1 billion they anticipate it will take to fix the club's Stamford Bridge woes.
At least two companies have been considering a bid for Chelsea, according to Telegraph Sport, but Stamford Bridge is a major stumbling block in any transaction.
With the cost of buying Chelsea expected to exceed £2 billion, the thought of having to spend an additional £1 billion, including all associated expenditures, to reconstruct Stamford Bridge is leading some to reconsider.While purchasing Chelsea represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of Europe's best teams, the only way for the club to flourish is to renovate or relocate from Stamford Bridge.
"The fundamental difficulty at Chelsea is the stadium," a source told Telegraph Sport. Because you have to redevelop Stamford Bridge at some time, a £2 billion agreement becomes a £3 billion deal."
While there have been reports that up to ten parties and individuals are interested in bidding for Chelsea before the March 15 deadline set by merchant bank Raine, a number of groups and individuals linked with a bid have already ruled themselves out, with calls being made to owners across all American sports.According to foreign minister Liz Truss, the March 15 deadline for bids is now the same date that Britain will be able to penalize hundreds of people if emergency legislation is implemented as planned.
It will be interesting to see if this persuades Roman Abramovich, who has received requests from MPs to be sanctioned, to consider bids before that deadline. The frontrunners, lead by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, are said to have already made a bid for Chelsea and have not been deterred by the problems at Stamford Bridge.The Ricketts family, who control the Chicago Cubs, has yet to comment on allegations that they are considering a move for Chelsea. Todd Ricketts saw Chelsea play Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in 2019, the same year his father Joe, who helped fund the Cubs' purchase, had to apologize for sending racist and anti-Muslim letters.
Nick Candy, the British millionaire who is married to former Neighbours star Holly Valance, has similarly declined to comment on whether he is interested in Chelsea.After withdrawing his application to renew his UK visa in 2018, Abramovich, who publicly revealed his decision to sell up this week, scrapped plans to build a new £500 million stadium.
Chelsea had been granted permission to construct a new stadium on the current Stamford Bridge site, forcing them to play elsewhere for at least three years while the stadium was being rebuilt.
Chelsea's new owners will instantly face a stadium dilemma, as the European champions are severely limited by their current 41,837-capacity home.Chelsea's matchday revenue is eclipsed by rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Arsenal and Liverpool, and the stadiums of West Ham United and Manchester City provide even larger profit potential.
Newcastle United's St James' Park capacity is already significantly larger than Chelsea's, with 52,405, and expansion would be faster and less expensive, according to rumours that the club's Saudi-backed owners want to increase it to 80,000.
Abramovich's scrapped plans for a 60,000-capacity stadium, which had acquired planning permission, were planned by Herzog & de Meuron, the architects of Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena and the Bird's Nest stadium, which hosted the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Chelsea is dealing with a defense exodus.
One of the first decisions facing Chelsea's new owners is how to replace Andreas Christensen, who Barcelona believes is on the verge of signing a five-year contract.
Barca have submitted a free transfer proposal for Christensen, whose contract expires at the end of the season, and are hopeful of reaching a deal with the Dane.Chelsea may need to acquire at least two new defenders in the summer, with captain Cesar Azpilicueta mulling a move to Barcelona and Antonio Rudiger still to accept a new contract.
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