Chelsea hit by devastating £100m+ blow - sources

James holds a degree in Sports Journalism and Communications (MA) from the Real Madrid Graduate School. He has experience working for a number of local news outlets as well as the Sunday Mirror and Real Madrid TV. James is from Scunthorpe and has an affinity with Scunthorpe United, but is also a huge West Ham supporter and an expert on all things to do with the Hammers. He started working for Breaking Media in July 2023, initially writing on the Club Sites, where he specialised in West Ham content, before moving to Football Insider – where he is now an expert in football finance, speaking regularly with Stefan Borson and Keith Wyness to generate high-quality content in all things related to finance in the Premier League, Football League, and Scottish Premiership.

Published on:

16 Aug 2024, 1:30 pm

Chelsea's owners will need to continue pumping money into the club to compensate for the lack of Champions League football and a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal, sources have told Football Insider.

The Premier League giants have failed to qualify for European football’s premier club competition in both seasons since owner BlueCo – a consortium led by Todd Boehly – took over at Stamford Bridge in May 2022.

Chelsea’s sixth-place finish last season means they will be playing in the Conference League in the upcoming campaign, meaning their profits will be significantly lower than what they could have earned from the Champions League.

The west London club are also set to start the new season with no front-of-shirt sponsor for a second successive campaign after their deal with Infinite Athlete expired.

In September last year – two months into the season – Chelsea struck a £40million per season deal with the US-based sports data company.

But under the terms of the agreement, Infinite Athlete is set to transition to a sleeve sponsorship deal for the new season, leaving the club searching around for an alternative deal.

Sources have told Football Insider missing out on Champions League football and failing to land a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal is likely to leave a hole of more than £100million in Chelsea’s accounts.

Chelsea owners will need to keep pumping money into club

Chelsea have been close to the profit and sustainability (PSR) limit over the past couple of seasons after signing several players in big-money deals.

It’s been another busy summer for the London giants after drafting in 10 new additions for a total of £185.4million – taking the total BlueCo has spent on transfers to more than £1.2billion over the past two years.

Finance expert Stefan Borson revealed to Football Insider the costs of player amortisation and wages for 2024-25 are likely to be around £600million, while their turnover is only expected to be between £400-450million.

(Credit: Getty Images)

Football Insider revealed on 31 July Chelsea’s owners have bankrolled a £175million injection into the club in the form of a new share issue.

But that trend will likely need to continue for as long as their heavy spending in the transfer market fails to translate into results on the pitch.

In other news, Chelsea to complete A-list striker signing after deal agreed.

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