Chelsea have offered £11million a year to use Wembley Stadium as a temporary home while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped – stealing a march on London rivals Tottenham.
Spurs, who will need a venue for one year from 2017 while their new place is built, are believed to have offered £8m a year to use the national stadium.
But, according to The Times, Chelsea have outbid them in an effort to secure use of Wembley for three seasons, most likely from the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign.
Chelsea take on Tottenham in last season’s Capital One Cup final at Wembley – both clubs wish to use the national stadium as a temporary venue while their grounds are rebuilt in a few years’ time.
September Chelsea will hold formal public consultation on plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge into 60,000-capacity venue
December Blues expected to lodge planning permission application with Hammersmith and Fulham Council
Neither Premier League team would be able to use Wembley to its full 90,000 capacity because of restrictions on the number of events that can be held at the iconic north London stadium each year.
But, as revealed last month by Sportsmail, these restrictions can be circumvented if the attendance is no higher than 50,000 – equivalent to keeping Wembley’s top tier closed off.
The Wembley board is under pressure from the Premier League to allow either Chelsea or Tottenham use of the stadium but they must consider the knock-on effect on other sporting and music events and the revenue they generate.
Chelsea revealed architects’ impressions of a new 60,000-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium last week with the design inspired by the buttresses, pillars and gothic architecture of Westminster Abbey.
Owner Roman Abramovich wants their new home, which will cost in excess of £500m to realise, to be a cathedral of football and close attention has been paid to making the designs as true to Chelsea’s heritage as possible.