A consortium led by American billionaire Todd Boehly is already discussing plans to renovate Stamford Bridge should they be successful in replacing Roman Abramovich as owner of Chelsea.
Abramovich is in the process of selling the club he has been in charge of for the past 19 years. After being sanctioned by the UK government for alleged links to Vladimir Putin, no money from the sale will go to the Russian but he retains final say on who succeeds him in west London.
Friday saw the deadline for initial bids pass, with preferred offers selected for the final stage. Boehly's consortium was one of those bids selected with the new deadline for improved offers set for April 11 with the aim to present a preferred bidder to the government by April 18.
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One of the key issues facing whoever takes the reigns from Abramovich is the future home of the club. Back in 2018, Abramovich had plans in place to carry out a £1bn renovation of Stamford Bridge to take it from a ground with 40,000 capacity to over 60,000, bringing it in line with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham.
However, they were shelved due to what the club called an 'unfavourable investment climate.' The Telegraph reported at the start of March, however, that those £1bn plans put in place would now likely cost as much as £2.2bn instead.
Boehly, the Ricketts family, Sir Martin Broughton and Stephen Pagliuca have all been asked to demonstrate the availability of additional funds that could see them carry out those improvements. But given the proximity of Stamford Bridge to local transport links, any renovations will be far more complicated than those of other clubs.
But Boehly is eager to waste no time. The Evening Standard have reported that the American has already been in contact with those involved with Abramovich's plans back in 2018 in what appears to be an attempt to ensure as smooth a process as possible should he be successful. Those figures include former project director David Hickey and architect Janet Marie Smith, who has previously worked on a number of stadium projects in America.
