Fulham's groundshare plans with Chelsea are on the brink of collapse, it was being claimed today.

Negotiations to move into Stamford Bridge for the start of the 2004-5 season are reported to have broken down following claims that Chelsea demanded a £5million 'golden hello', half of which would have been forfeited by Fulham if the deal did not go ahead.

Only last week, the two club chairmen, Mohamed Fayed and Ken Bates, spent two days in Paris negotiating the terms of the deal.

Both sides were confident an agreement was on the verge of completion, but this now appears to have been premature.

The collapse of negotiations leaves in doubt the question of where Fulham will play once their arrangement to share Loftus Road expires at the end of next season.

"We are disappointed negotiations have broken down," Fulham said, "because we have established a very good relationship with Chelsea as a club and were confident we could do business with them for a short-term groundshare which would have benefited both clubs."

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