Chelsea will stay put Stamford Bridge and focus on expanding the ground’s capacity to 55,000 if co-owner loses his his boardroom struggle with Behdad Eghbali, amid the disagreement between Boehly and his co-owner partner Eghbali regarding the club’s future, according to The Sun.
It’s understood that Boehly would prefer to find a new home for Chelsea, and apparently already has zeroed in on a new 60.000-capacity stadium in Earls Court, while Eghbali favors a £1.5billion renovation of Stamford Bridge instead, which currently seats 40,000.
The pair are intent on buying each other out.
While the proposed Earl’s Court project seems increasingly unlikely, Chelsea would have to temporarily vacate their current premises for two years if the Club were to expand Stamford Bridge. There are plans to improve the West Stand, which would include building concrete decks over a nearby railway line.
Eghbali isn’t keen on having Stamford Bridge demolished and is not warm at all to the thought that building a new stadium on the existing site could take up to five years.
Last month former Chelsea defender William Gallas criticised the civil war between Boehly and Eghbali and described the situation as ‘a real mess’.
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 stakes in one football club. There needs to be total alignment if you want to have a successful club, both on the pitch and in the boardroom.
“The best clubs have one leader, with everyone pulling in the same direction. It’s not difficult to get the structure right at an elite club with the resources of Chelsea, but it’s all over the place. 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 sets the philosophy and brings in the players and the right coach. It’s a simple chain of command.”