Tottenham Hotspur close to agreeing Wembley move for 2017 confirms FA chairman Greg Dyke

Outgoing Football Association (FA) chairperson Greg Dyke has revealed that negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur – which would see Mauricio Pochettino's side play their home matches at Wembley Stadium for one season – are at an advanced stage. The north London club are searching for a temporary new ground for the 2017/18 campaign as they leave White Hart Lane and construct a new 61,000-capacity bowl – currently known as the Northumberland Development Project – on an adjacent site at a cost of approximately £400m ($579m).

Wembley has long been mooted as their preferred option, although there were initial questions marks due to an agreement with Brent Council that only allows a maximum of 37 major events to take place at maximum capacity each year. A potential groundshare with MK Dons 50 miles away at the impressive Stadium mk has also been widely speculated, with reports from The Mail in February suggesting that Tottenham could play their league games in the national stadium and host cup ties in Buckinghamshire.

"We're certainly in discussions with Spurs that they should come in for a full season when they are rebuilding their stadium," Dyke confirmed to Sky Sports News HQ. "I think we are a long way down the path on reaching an agreement. I think there are some discussions about whether they'll play their Champions League games at Wembley next year, but I don't know much about that. On the full season, I think we are quite close to a deal."

On the possibility of Chelsea also playing at Wembley during the building of their own stadium to replace Stamford Bridge, he added:"I think Chelsea might come for a longer period. Chelsea have got really exciting plans for that stadium, they are going to demolish the whole thing and build a whole new stadium on the existing site. If they came, that would mean them coming for three years."

Second-place Tottenham are guaranteed a first return to the Champions League since 2011 next term and the potential need for them to play their home ties elsewhere stems from the fact that they may need to bring work on the north east corner at White Hart Lane forward in order to stay on track to complete their new arena in time for the 2018/19 season.

"In order to comply with all Uefa stadium requirements for staging Champions League fixtures, we are discussing options that include the possibility of playing our European games away from White Hart Lane next season," the club confirmed in an official update on Thursday afternoon (5 May).

"Please be assured that, regardless of venue, we shall continue to offer accessible pricing for cup games, including European matches and also retain our popular family ticket packages to ensure we maintain a fantastic atmosphere for cup fixtures. We shall provide further information on this as soon as confirmed."