Chelsea have reportedly offered to pay £11million a year to use Wembley Stadium while expansion works are carried out at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are looking to redevelop their SW6 home by increasing its capacity to around 60,000 and put them on a level playing field with Europe’s elite stadia.
Building work is anticipated to take around three years to complete and The Times are claiming Chelsea have made a presentation to Wembley’s board about using the ground during this period.
It sees Jose Mourinho’s side leap ahead of London rivals Tottenham in the running to use the national stadium as Spurs are only thought to have lodged an £8 million a season bid for the right to play there.
Chelsea's plans for Stamford Bridge in pictures:
Chelsea would be looking to move in for the start of the 2017-18 campaign and have also been considering Twickenham as a potential venue while improvements are made to the Bridge.
However, Wembley appears to be the preferred choice and a loophole in an agreement with Brent Council will allow the Blues to host an unlimited number of fixtures at the home of football.
There are restrictions on the number of events allowed to be hosted at Wembley while at its full capacity but these are null and void if attendance is kept at no more than 50,800 per match.
Chelsea last week unveiled plans to turn the Bridge into a £500million “cathedral of sport” as fans and people living next to the ground in Fulham were shown drawings at a public exhibition.
All four sides of the ground will be replaced with a stadium heavily inspired by Gothic architecture such as Westminster Abbey.
