Stefan Borson impressed by Chelsea's 'surprising' new £50m deal

Chelsea’s new shirt sponsorship with Circle is an excellent deal at such a late stage of the summer.

That is according to former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Blues’ agreement with the stablecoin company is “very strong.”

The West London outfit confirmed their new agreement with Circle last week, and suggested that the deal is close to their own perceived value of £50million for the front of their shirts.

Borson made it clear that he is surprised that Circle agreed to such a significant investment, given that they have already missed out on a substantial portion of the club’s shirt sales for the season. 

He also raised concern about the length of the agreement, as Chelsea and Circle have only agreed to a one-year partnership at this stage. 

Premier League clubs have faced serious difficulties when trying to agree shirt sponsorships this summer, and Chelsea are in line to face a similar issue again next summer as things stand.

Chelsea have got to break ‘cycle’ with sponsors

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson made it clear that Chelsea have got to find a way of breaking their “cycle” of scrambling to find last-minute sponsorships.

“It’s a really good deal. Taking it at face value in terms of what they've said about it being in the range of £50m, close to £50m at this stage is really very, very strong,” he said.

“It is surprising that a brand would want to take it for £50m after they've missed all of the replica printing; the vast majority of kit sales have already been done by the time you get to this point.

“It's not perfect, because it's one year. So they’ll go through this whole process straight away again, unless Circle carry on or they can finally find somebody to take it on a two or three-year basis, which is obviously what they would want to do.

“You've got to stop this cycle of having to chase your tail by trying to do a deal after the season ends and after somebody has walked away; you're just not going to get full value for that.

“But in the circumstances, £50m or somewhere in that ballpark is a great deal.”

Chelsea delight Premier League and government with new deal

Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness told Football Insider earlier this week that Chelsea’s agreement to host Shakhtar Donetsk’s home fixtures in the Champions League will be viewed favourably by both the Premier League and the British government.

The Ukrainian side will play their European home games at Stamford Bridge, as they are currently displayed from their home due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Wyness believes that there is a possibility that Chelsea could make a “marginal loss” from the agreement, but feels that it is more about the optics for them than any financial gain.

He suggested that the finances behind the deal are irrelevant, although he also pointed out that there is the potential for some big crowds, with Shakhtar set to take on Real Madrid in one of their games.