Kieran Maguire raises suspicion at £40m Chelsea deal - 'look at the small print in the contract'
Chelsea will have clauses in their front-of-shirt sponsorship deal that decrease the value if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the value of Chelsea's new sponsorship agreement.
As revealed by Football Insider, Chelsea are in talks with Infinite Athlete over a front-of-shirt sponsorship agreement.
The deal has been delayed because of the Premier League's fair market value assessment, but The Telegraph report that the Blues are growing in confidence that a £40million-a-year deal will soon be approved.
The value of the Infinite Athlete deal is set to match the deal of Chelsea's previous arrangement with British telecommunications company Three.
However, Maguire has a suspicion that the 'small print' of the contract will decrease the sponsorship value if Chelsea regularly fail to qualify for the Champions League.
"If Chelsea do agree a £40million a year front-of-shirt deal, I suspect there will be certain caveats embedded into the contract," Maguire told Football Insider's Sean Fisher.
"They will preserve the position of the sponsor, especially in regard to non-qualification for European competition.
"So a £40million value this season might be okay, but will they be able to get £40million in that same contract without Champions League qualification in three or four years?
"I suspect that the small print within the contract will reveal that it won’t be the case.
"Chelsea are a global brand but without being in the top tier of European football it’s difficult to justify those prices."