Stadium almost identical to Emirates could offer blueprint for Arsenal’s 70,000-seater expansion

ARSENAL fans have already been given a glimpse of what a renovated Emirates Stadium could look like.

It was revealed earlier this week that the Gunners are weighing up their options to expand their ground and make it London’s largest club stadium.

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Their current north London The home was opened in 2006 at a cost of around £390million, but has since fallen behind Tottenham and West Ham’s new stadiums in terms of size.

The new plans hope to increase Emirates capacity to at least 70,000 from 60,704, and could include a stunning temporary transfer to Wembley while construction work is underway.

SunSport understands the club are in no rush to make a decision on any changes, which is still very likely years away.

However, fans have already gotten a glimpse of what the renovations could look like once they’re complete.

This is thanks to Portuguese team Benfica and their plans to renovate the Estadio da Luz.

The modern Luz opened in 2003 and was designed by the same architects as the Emirates, Populous, also featuring an almost identical bowl shape.

When it opened, the Luz had a capacity of around 65,000, but this was increased by around 3,000 to reach 68,100 for the 2025/26 season, with a final target of 70,000.

This change was implemented by the addition of two new first rows in the lower tier of the stadium, a relatively quick and cheap set of works carried out in the summer.

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THE following The next step for club chiefs is to add another 1,900 seats to reach their target of 70,000, although where those seats go remains to be seen.

In Arsenal’s case, they are quite limited in what they can achieve in terms of construction work due to the infrastructure and shape of their current ground, as well as the surrounding area of ​​North London.

There have been speculative discussions about many ways to get around this problem, including using private boxes, changing the size of seats and the space between them, and adjusting the tilt of the stands, but all come with complications.

Speculation has claimed that Arsenal could make a temporary decision to play matches at Wembley during construction work, although no decision has yet been made on this.

It is understood that Arsenal took direct inspiration from the renovation work carried out by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Spanish giants managed to double their matchday revenue to around £210 million following an increase in capacity to 83,000.

However, these changes between 2019 and 2024 – including a retractable roof, 360-degree LED scoreboard and multi-function underground storage on the pitch – cost the club £877 million.

Figures of up to £500m have been speculated for the changes Arsenal bosses would like to implement to make it a digital multi-function stadium.

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