ARSENAL fans have already been handed a glimpse into how a renovated Emirates Stadium might look.
It was revealed earlier this week the Gunners are assessing their options to expand their home ground and make it the largest club stadium in London.
Arsenal fans have been given a glimpse into how changes to the Emirates might look[/caption]
Benfica’s Estadio da Luz, made by the same Emirates architects, has undergone renovation works[/caption]
Their current north London home was opened in 2006 at a cost of around £390million, but it has since fallen behind the new stadiums of Tottenham and West Ham in terms of size.
The new plans hope to expand the Emirates’ capacity up to at least 70,000 from 60,704, and could include a stunning temporary switch to Wembley while construction work takes place.
SunSport understands the club are in no rush to push through a decision on any changes, which is still highly likely to be years down the line.
However, fans have already been given a glimpse into what the renovations could look like when finished.
That is thanks to Portuguese outfit Benfica and their renovations plans for the Estadio da Luz.
The modern Luz opened in 2003 and was designed by the same architects as the Emirates, Populous, with a near-identical bowl shape also in tow.
When it opened, the Luz had a seated capacity of around 65,000, but this has been expanded by around 3,000 to 68,100 for the 2025/26 season with an end goal of 70,000.
This change was implemented by adding two new front rows in the lower tier of the stadium, a relatively quick and cheap set of works completed in the summer.
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The next step for club chiefs is to add a further 1,900 seats to reach their goal of 70,000, although where those go remains to be seen.
In Arsenal’s case, they are quite limited in what they can achieve in construction work due to the infrastructure and shape of their current ground, as well as the surrounding north London area.
There have been speculative talks over numerous ways to get around this, including their use of private boxes, altering the size of the seats and the space between them and adjusting the gradient of the stands, but all come with complications.
Speculation has claimed Arsenal could make a temporary move to play games at Wembley during the construction works, although no decision has been made on this yet.
It’s understood Arsenal have been directly drawing inspiration from the renovation work done by Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Spanish giants have managed to double their matchday revenue to around £210m following an increase in capacity to 83,000.
However, those changes between 2019 and 2024 – including a retractable roof, 360-degree LED scoreboard, and multifunction subterranean pitch storage – cost the club £877m.
Figures as high as £500m have been speculated for the changes Arsenal bosses would like to implement in making it a digital-first multifunction stadium.
Benfica have added around 3,000 seats to their ground[/caption]
ARSENAL PLAYER RATINGS: Rice and super-sub Zubimendi shine vs West Ham
BUKAYO SAKA was back to his usual self as Arsenal brushed aside West Ham.
The Gunners have looked unbeatable at home in recent months and were in control throughout.
Goals either side of half-time from Declan Rice and Saka earned the win.
Rice tapped home a rebound after Saka had a shot saved, before the England star scored from the penalty spot after Jurrien Timber was brought down.
However it was another match where Viktor Gyokeres failed to get on the scoresheet, with few opportunities carved out for the Swede.
Find out how Sun Sport’s Jordan Davies rated the Gunners display here.
