Liverpool are weighing up options for their next part of the Anfield expansion project and could seek to increase the club's famous stadium to over 60,000 seats.
The club has a September deadline on an existing planning application to decide whether to push ahead with initial designs to increase the Anfield Road Stand by 4,000 seats (which would take overall capacity to around 59,000) or re-explore even more ambitious options.
Reports including the Times claim that Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have been considering a bigger project for some time and have been preparing feasibility studies in recent years to understand whether expanding stadium capacity even further would be viable for the club - and the effect on the surrounding infrastructure.
As quoted by the Times' report, Liverpool CEO Peter Moore recently explained: “If there is a smarter design option that does not fit with the current outline planning permission, then we would submit another planning application.
“Only once we have completed this comprehensive process and come to a conclusion will it be the right time to move forward.”
FSG famously opted against constructing a brand new stadium after taking over Liverpool and instead went to work on redeveloping Anfield in its existing form. The decision proved a popular one with the fans and local community, with the Main Stand increased by around 9,000 seats in 2016.
Scenes of a sea of supporters in Madrid and back home after Liverpool’s Champions League triumph reaffirmed the club's status as having a truly giant fanbase. However, the report insists that Liverpool will not make 'knee-jerk' decisions based on the images from the Champions League trophy parade and that the expansion project is something that has been carefully considered for some time.
While a new and improved Anfield Road Stand may be some years away, Liverpool are close to completion on a new, £50m training facility in Kirkby which is scheduled to open for the start of the 2020/21 campaign.
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