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The latest Tottenham Hotspur stadium update has once again been a disappointing one for the club's fans as their stay at Wembley has been extended yet again.

The problems at the construction site in north London are well documented, with major issues with the safety systems inside the complex causing a delay to its opening of what will now be eight months at the earliest.

Tottenham fans have long since grown tired of their long trips to the national stadium, with attendances dwindling since the beginning of the season and far lower than those in the last campaign.

However, despite that apathy to Wembley there is a growing belief among much of the fanbase that the club should now provide clarity on the situation by writing off this season and announce that they will open the new ground for the start of the next campaign, with glamour friendlies in the summer serving as test events.

That certainly should have been a serious consideration at the beginning of the process, with the decision to squeeze the bulk of the construction into just one year away from home always going to be a tough ask.

There have been reports of various contractors working on top of each other and being dependent on each other's work to get things finished with a complex online delivery queue system to manage the materials coming to the site which must have been a nightmare to wrangle during the frenzied period when the club was aiming for a September opening.

Some in the game have also voiced their concerns about Tottenham moving mid-season to a new stadium with Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock vocal in his belief that clubs playing Spurs at their new home will gain an advantage as they take on a side settling into new surroundings whereas others have played a side comfortable at Wembley.

However, the club is set upon moving into their new home this season and that will not change unless they are told by those working on the safety systems that it is simply not possible.

For nobody at the club, from Daniel Levy to Mauricio Pochettino down to the players wants to wait until next season for a variety of reasons.

For Levy and the financial side of the whole affair, the delays have become a source of embarrassment and also a very costly addition to their original budget which had already grown due to rising costs associated with Brexit.

A deal had to be struck with Wembley to secure the national stadium until the end of the campaign as a contingency plan so they could definitely fulfil all of their home fixtures.

As well as paying out to use Wembley for each game, the club are also missing out on the ticket sales from a sold out 62,062-seater stadium of their own, as well as the associated match day revenue from the food outlets, restaurants, corporate experiences and club megastore.

Pochettino is desperate to move into the new stadium as he believes it will provide a massive boost to the club's season, even if it is only for a handful of games, rather than creating the upheaval some are speculating.

"To play in your own stadium is the best thing that can happen in your life. The moment the new stadium is ready, if it is my decision, my decision is to move quickly," he said a fortnight ago.

"In the moment our new stadium will be ready to play, my opinion is to move quickly because when you start to play in your own stadium it is completely different. If it depends on me, I want to move as soon as possible."

Pochettino has previously spoken about the new stadium giving the team and fans the same momentum and energy as their final season at White Hart Lane did.

The players have all spoken of their desire to move to the new stadium and a settling in period is less likely to apply as it has to other teams, such as West Ham United at the London Stadium.

For Spurs' new ground has been built to resemble a bigger White Hart Lane, with the fans tight around the pitch, and many fans noted the similarities between the old and new grounds at a recent familiarisation event inside the stadium.

Tottenham's stay away from home has also forged another talent - the ability to adapt to any stadium they play at. Their experiences in adapting to Wembley will provide them with important tools in their new stadium move.

It's no surprise that when you look at the Premier League table for only away games Tottenham sit top with 10 wins and two defeats. They've taken 30 points this season, four more than their nearest rivals Liverpool, eight more than Chelsea in third and ten more than Manchester City in fourth.

Playing in a new environment will certainly not present the issues for them that Warnock and some are suggesting. Pochettino has prepared them well for the move, as have the circumstances themselves. Such a move and the buzz it will create inside the club could prove crucial in the latter stages of the title race or a cup competition.

Tottenham are in constant discussions with the Premier League, who they state have been very supportive of their problems. When it comes to playing a handful of fixtures this season in a new home, it is pretty much the reverse of one of the early scenarios proposed to the league - to play a few games at Wembley and the rest back at Tottenham.

In terms of playing at two different homes, it's the same as that already accepted plan, just flipped around.

football.london understands that the Premier League empathises with the challenges Tottenham have faced and will remain in dialogue with them about their plans for the remainder of the season.

So while it might seem a cleaner scenario for some should the move take place next season, with a stadium that looks almost finished outside and inside, spiralling costs and a club desperate to move, Tottenham certainly won't be waiting until the summer to go home if they can help it.

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