As we slowly move forward in acquiring all the necessary permissions for rebuilding Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's quest to secure Wembley as our temporary home is seemingly making progress as well. And while last week it appeared that it may involve a necessary evil of a short-term groundshare with Spurs, the latest report from Charlie Sale of the Mail claims that we consider that a "non-starter", meaning that we'd want to use Wembley exclusively for those three seasons.

Both Spurs and Chelsea are competing to use the national stadium at the same time while building new grounds. And Chelsea, who do not see it as feasible to share with Spurs, are understood to be way ahead in negotiations with Wembley, which they want to rent for three years. Spurs' spoiling tactics have included making clear they would be happy to share with their London rivals, despite the regular Wembley calendar making that a non-starter.

While I'm not sure I quite understand how the regular Wembley calendar is forcing the abandonment of a groundshare — the bulk of that calendar consists of international breaks and cup weekends — Spurs are apparently also treating this possibility as real enough and are thus resorting to slightly desperate tactics.

Tottenham have failed in their high-level bid to involve Minister of Sport Tracey Crouch in their efforts to relocate to Wembley Stadium for the 2017-18 season. [...] Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and Tottenham MP David Lammy have recently been to see Crouch to insist that there should be a level playing field over Wembley, as taxpayers' money was involved in building the stadium, now privately owned by the FA.

The punch-line is that Crouch is a Spurs fan and apparently she still told Levy to get lost. Ha-ha!

Wembley may not be the most convenient option for many Chelsea fans, but it's become the most feasible solution for the club once Twickenham fell off the table. Presumably we will officially secure the contract for temporary relocation in the near future as the planning process keeps moving along steadily.