Chelsea Dealt Blow in Stadium Redevelopment Plans As Blues Face 6-Year Wait to Move Into New Home

Chelsea have been dealt a blow as the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge has been delayed for a second time.

The expansion has been delayed by a further year, according to the Sun, meaning the club will now not move out until 2021 and it could be a further four years after that until they move back in to their redeveloped home .

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Problems with planning applications and infrastructure work have been cited for the cause of the delay, despite Chelsea initially obtaining planning permission in January 2017.

However, with the scale of work the club wants to do, they need to purchase small pieces of land around Stamford Bridge - and each of those require an individual planning permission application.

The delays could cause further problems as Chelsea have agreed a deal which states that they need to start demolition work within three years. It is now likely that the club will have to start demolishing parts of Stamford Bridge while the Blues are still playing their football there.

The club had initially hoped for the work to be done in time for the start of the 2021/22 season, however delays have meant that is will be the time that they move out of the stadium.

From that date, the work is expected to take at least three years, meaning we could reach the 2024/25 season before Chelsea move back into their home.

Initially, the work was set to cost £500m, but will now set Roman Abramovich back a staggering £1bn. The latest delays mark another setback in a long battle for Chelsea, who have been trying to upgrade their stadium for the past 15 years.