Chelsea have to move, says Andre Villas-Boas

11 April 2012

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas today urged fans to back the club's plans to buy back the freehold at Stamford Bridge.

The land the pitch and stands are on has been owned by the supporter-run Chelsea Pitch Owners since the 1990s but the club want to purchase the shares so they can build a new 60,000-seat stadium on another site.

Chelsea need 75 per cent of shareholders to vote in favour of the motion when an EGM is held on October 27.

However, as revealed by Standard Sport yesterday, fans are stepping up their campaign against the move and will distribute 10,000 leaflets with the message 'saynocpo' to be held up during Sunday's match against Everton.

Villas-Boas is sympathetic to their feelings having experienced the same thing with former club Porto, who moved from the Antas Stadium to the larger Dragao in 2003.

He said: "I think the most important thing for us is to position ourselves for the future. The club has made a good decision on that front. When Porto left the old stadium to go to the Dragao, nobody liked the name, the site and the stadium, or the idea of moving.

"The historic presence of the old stadium on that site was something important for the fans. But go back to Porto now and no one remembers the old stadium.

"That move took Porto into the future, brought more revenues, and allowed us to play in a magnificent stadium. That's my experience."

Villas-Boas is also focused on the future of key players in his squad and revealed that Didier Drogba, Jose Bosingwa and Salomon Kalou, who are in the final year of their contracts, are in talks over new deals.

The Portuguese said: "On Didier, the offer has been made and there are on-going talks. Regarding Bosingwa, the talks are also on-going.

"Kalou's situation is no different to Didier's. He was offered a contract and we'll continue talks until we reach an agreement or not.

"In January, these players are available to discuss their future.

"However, the fact that they are emotionally tied to this club means we can count on them while they are negotiating."

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