Tottenham And Chelsea Rivals Face Possibility Of Sharing Ground In 2017-18 Season

Tottenham are optimistic about their chances of spending a season at Wembley as they look to match Chelsea’s offer to set up a potential temporary groundshare.

The London rivals both want to use the national stadium while they revamp their respective homes and this could lead to them sharing for a season. Spurs have already started preparations for a 61,000-seater White Hart Lane and will need to move away for the duration of the 2017-18 season when work steps up.

Chelsea would need Wembley for at least three seasons, between 2017 and 2020, but are a couple of steps away from finalising their schedule with a planning application only submitted last month. The champions want exclusivity while Spurs are understood to have offered similar money to Chelsea’s expected £15million-a-season rent figure and are open to sharing. Tottenham are sure they will be in a position to move out in a little over a year’s time, but Chelsea’s position is more uncertain with the hurdles of their planning application and a potential legal challenge still to come.

Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn talked up the chances of two teams sharing Wembley last year but compromises would have to be made, particularly if both sides were to be involved in European football.