Chelsea in Talks With Chinese Investors Over £500m Stamford Bridge Redevelopment

Chelsea have reportedly held talks with Chinese investors over the possibility of helping the club fund their new state-of-the-art 60,000 seater stadium.

According to the Sun, Blues owner Roman Abramovich has sought out backers from the Far East last week to help pay for the £500m development.

Abramovich apparently informed those in attendance that he was not looking to sell a stake in the club, but merely wanted them to provide a monstrous sum of cash to aid Chelsea in building their new ground.

The Russian oligarch will pay back those who are willing to stump up money for the project in time as the reigning Premier League champions look to fund the stadium without the sole support of their rich benefactor.

Chelsea plan to raze their current Stamford Bridge home to the ground and build their new modern home on the same site.

With such a development setting the club back to the tune of half a billion pounds, however, Abramovich has stated his intent to not fund the build completely out of his own pocket.

That led to the extraordinary meeting between Abramovich, Chelsea's board and Chinese investors last week, with the talks apparently brokered by a world-renowned agent.

The Chinese businessmen are supposedly willing to hand over some - if not all - of the £500m needed for the stadium's work, with their investment coming back to them once the redeveloped ground is up and running.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council approved Chelsea's plans for the build, whilst London Mayor Sadiq Khan also gave his approval for the development to go ahead in March.

Stamford Bridge currently holds a capacity of around 41,663, and the increase in additional seats - in the stands and the addition of new executive boxes - will swell the coffers in west London.

The stadium, which has been designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is likely to be ready for the beginning of the 2020/21 season.