Arsenal Plans £500m Emirates Expansion, Temporary Move to Wembley

Arsenal is planning a major overhaul of the Emirates to raise capacity from about 60,700 to more than 70,000 by reconfiguring seating and altering stand gradients while largely preserving the outer bowl. Reports put the complex scheme’s cost at roughly £500m, and it would likely require a temporary relocation of home matches with Wembley the leading option under discussion. Club officials expect the expansion to generate tens of millions of additional annual matchday revenue, help address a season-ticket waiting list north of 100,000 and restore the Emirates as London’s biggest club ground. Arsenal has studied Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu project — its ~£860m renovation roughly doubled matchday income to about €248m — as a template for the commercial upside. Feasibility talks have accelerated this year, but the plan faces major logistical, planning and transport constraints on the 17-acre Highbury Road site that make delivery technically and financially challenging.