New Chelsea stadium: Significant Stamford Bridge improvement expected in 'near future'

Chelsea have entered a new era under the ownership of Todd Boehly's consortium, and with the transfer window soon to open, the world will soon have a clear indication of the group's plans for the Blues. However, the Blues' new premiership will be judged upon more than whether they acquire Ousmane Dembele this summer.

One facet will be what the future holds for Stamford Bridge. While an iconic stadium, the ground has long been an asset designated as an area where they could fall behind their rivals. With more contemporary infrastructure and increased capacities being developed across the nation to see the Blues barely make the top 10 in the Premier League in terms of potential attendance.

Indeed, during the bidding process with Raine Group, one of the areas the Boehly camp is said to have excelled in was their plans for the stadium. Reports emerged early in the takeover process that the consortium had engaged in talks over the redevelopment. Jonathan Goldstein, a property developer, is part of the consortium and talks were said to be underway with David Hickey, the former project director for the abandoned attempt led by Roman Abramovich. There was even the claim that increasing capacity to 62,500 could help see the matchday revenue almost triple.

While the difficulty of Stamford Bridge's location has long been documented due to its proximity to the likes of Fulham Broadway, the ground is also unique in that it is owned by a group separate from the Club. Chelsea Pitch Owners hold the freehold to Stamford Bridge and the name of Chelsea FC.

They are a group made up of more than 23,000 individual shares. John Terry is president of the group, while Neil Barnett, Steve Clarke, Marcel Desailly, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Pat