A £1.36billion stadium that was supposed to be bigger than Wembley was left half-built for around two years.

In 2020, the most successful side in Chinese football history, Guangzhou FC, began work on a new 100,000-capacity ground which was designed to look like a lotus flower.

Guangzhou FC had big plans for a spectacular new homeCredit: AFP

Having been taken over by the Evergrande Group in 2010, Guangzhou went on to win eight league titles in the next nine years, with their owners keen to put their stamp on the club.

The Chinese outfit went by the name of Gangzhou Evergrande until the country’s FA restrictions prevented it, while it was also proposed that their new stadium would be named after their investors.

Plans for the Evergrande Stadium were unveiled in April 2020.

As well as boasting a lotus-shaped structure, the huge venue was poised to surpass Barcelona’s Camp Nou as the world’s largest purpose-built football stadium.

But the ambitious plans were soon scuppered when Guangzhou’s ownership plummeted into severe financial difficulties.

Having initially hoped to complete the stadium by December 2022, crippling debts threw this date into doubt, with the Evergrande Group reported to owe a staggering £220billion.

Despite their woes, the company, who are China’s largest property developers, still tried to proceed with the construction.

However, this attempt was halted in November 2021 when the Chinese government intervened and seized the stadium from them.

While they had planned to sell the incomplete arena to another company, this never came to fruition.

As a result, the proposed Evergrande Stadium was left unfinished and abandoned for almost two years, with photos from the time showing the lower-tier of the ground to be almost complete.

Trucks gathered for the Evergrande Stadium’s groundbreaking in April 2020Credit: AFP

The bottom tier of the proposed Evergrande Stadium was almost finished before progress was haltedCredit: AFP

An aerial view shows the unfinished projectCredit: AFP

Whilst in its half-built state, materials, cranes and scaffolding were also scattered around the barren grounds as the site’s future remained uncertain.

In 2022, the stadium project was ultimately cancelled as the club’s owners filed for bankruptcy and sold their best players.

The departure of several star names, including ex-Tottenham midfielder Paulinho, soon saw Guangzhou’s form suffer on the pitch.

China’s most successful team were relegated to the second-tier China League One in 2022, while they later moved into the Yuexiushan Stadium ahead of their 2023 campaign.

The venue has a capacity of just 18,000 fans, a far cry from the huge home ground they had once hoped to inhabit.

But the worst was yet to come for Guangzhou, who hit a new low earlier this year when they were expelled from professional football in China after being unable to pay off their huge debts.

Materials for Guangzhou’s mammoth new stadium were later ditched after the club fell on hard timesCredit: Getty

Former Brazil international Paulinho had three separate spells with the Chinese club between 2015 and 2021Credit: Getty

The Chinese giants were refused permission by the Chinese FA to play in professional domestic football this January.

Their fall from grace came after amassing a staggering eight Chinese league titles, two AFC Champions Leagues, two Chinese Cups and four Chinese Supercups in the space of eight years.

Meanwhile, the club had also welcomed a host of big name players and managers, including former World Cup winning coaches Marcello Lippi and Luiz Felipe Scolari, and ex-Colombia forward Jackson Martinez.

A statement from Guangzhou read: “We regret that we failed to make it, hence our sincerest apologies to fans and the people from all walks of life that support the club.

“We will not change our original intention and do our best to deal with the aftermath and support the development of Chinese football and Guangdong and Guangzhou football.”

And while the club will not compete professionally next term, the stadium will finally be built.

The ambitious lotus-shaped stadium will now remain just a planCredit: X @ESPNFC

Ultimately, the Chinese government transferred the ground to the state-owned Guangzhou City Construction Investment Group, who will now oversee a much-changed project.

The new plans include abandoning the initial lotus flower design, with the stadium set to boast an entirely new look, while its capacity will now be reduced to 73,000.

It is estimated that the revised project will cost roughly £253million, a huge reduction on the initial billion-pound proposal.

Work on construction restarted in 2024 and the stadium is set to finally be completed by the end of this year.