Sponsors are turning their back on Chelsea – ‘they’ve just lost £40m’
Chelsea have a £40million hole to fill in their accounts after they have “sacrificed” a lot of money over the past couple of years.
The Premier League side played the majority of the 2024-25 season without a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal.
Chelsea wanted to agree a £50million shirt deal last summer before being forced to lower their asking price as the season went on.
The London giants announced a deal in April for DAMAC to appear on the front of their shirts for the remainder of the campaign.
Chelsea’s new shirts, which were launched last month, didn’t feature a primary sponsor at the Club World Cup as they continue to try and agree a deal.
The Telegraph reported on 15 July Stamford Bridge chiefs are in talks with seven to 10 global companies over a long-term front-of-shirt sponsorship worth £60million a year.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Chelsea have made a “questionable” decision by deciding to hold off on agreeing a new shirt sponsor deal.
Chelsea have faced front-of-shirt sponsorship issues for the best part of the past two campaigns.
The club struck a £40million-a-year deal with Infinite Athlete in September 2023, but the agreement expired last summer.
Chelsea owners have made ‘questionable’ sponsor decision
Borson insisted winning the Club World Cup is unlikely to have been “transformational” to Chelsea’s chances of landing a lucrative shirt sponsor deal.
He told Football Insider: “First of all, I think we’ve heard many times that Chelsea are about to sign a very large front-of-shirt sponsor deal.
“The reality is most brands do not want to be coming on the shirt in September.
“If you’re a major brand and you’re paying let’s say £50-60million a year for a front-of-shirt sponsor and you’re the key sponsor of a club, you want to have agreed that deal in February or March, so that by the time the kits are printed and made and shipped, you’re on the front of that shirt on all of the replica stuff.
“They would have been wanting to have been on the shirt for the Club World Cup.
“I just simply don’t believe that winning the Club World Cup was transformational to the sales process when they couldn’t find a sponsor to take the Club World Cup itself and to have the image of that sponsor associated with Chelsea in the Club World Cup.
“I think we’ve heard it all before. Chelsea have taken a decision which I think is still questionable. They have effectively gone two years without a third-party sponsor.
“If you go on the Infinite Athlete website and you look at the shareholders of Infinite Athlete, we know that two of the shareholders were Todd Boehly and Clearlake. So, we know that there’s a connection and that was why Infinite Athlete got there.
“Infinite Athlete would never have sponsored Chelsea without that connection, so they’ve gone two seasons without having a major front-of-shirt sponsor. In doing so, they have sacrificed quite a lot.
“Even if the deal that they do now is a three-year deal at an increased level, they’ve still got to make up certainly the £40million that they dropped for last season by not having anybody on the shirt.”
Nicolas Jackson to Aston Villa update emerges
In terms of transfer activity, Football Insider revealed on 20 July Aston Villa are ready to reunite Unai Emery with Nicolas Jackson after the pair previously worked together at Villarreal.
Villa have held preliminary talks with Chelsea over Jackson as they look to bolster their attacking options this summer.
The 24-year-old registered 13 goals and six assists in 37 appearances last season.
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