German top flight football team Hertha Berlin has unveiled plans to develop a new 55,000-capacity stadium in the shadow of its current Olympiastadion home.

After spending time reviewing 50 sites for the mooted venue, the club has identified a spot of land in the Olympiapark close to the 80,000-seat stadium where it currently hosts home matches.

Werner Gegenbauer, the president of Hertha Berlin, said the stadium would be “privately financed” and should be ready in time for the 2025/26 season – when the rental agreement for the Olympiastadion concludes.

Frankfurt-based architects Albert Speer + Partner (AS+P) is working on the project.

Hertha Berlin is one of the few clubs in the Bundesliga not to own its own venue.

It currently utilises 64 per cent of the Olymiastadion’s capacity for match days, compared to a Bundesliga average of 92 per cent.

Gegenbauer said the venue was becoming “unsustainable”.

“As a team and a medium-sized company, we do not want to carry the drawbacks of an ageing stadium that is too big,” he added.