Chelsea are on the brink of buying AFC Wimbledon's Kingsmeadow Stadium.

AFC Wimbledon have received planning permission to build a new ground on Plough Lane in their spiritual home of Merton.

The League Two club hope to move into the state-of-the-art 11,000-capacity facility, which could be expanded to 20,000, in time for the 2018-19 season.

Selling the lease on Kingsmeadow, which the club purchased from non-league outfit Kingstonian in 2003, will raise vital funds for the project.

"A key element of the financing of the [new] stadium is the sale of Kingsmeadow to Chelsea FC. The contract is close to being finalised, and I am hopeful that it will be signed in February," Samuelson told the club's official website.

"The sale will only go ahead once a number of 'conditions precedent' are met, and until that happens the stadium remains in our ownership.

"Although the principle of the deal is straightforward, the detail is complex, and getting to this stage has been a long process.

"Nevertheless, all the negotiations have been carried out in a practical and constructive way, and we are getting close to a final agreement."

The London Evening Standard says Chelsea have used facilities at their training ground - plus Aldershot and Staines Town - to host their youth matches in recent years and are expected to pay over £2 million to acquire Kingsmeadow.