Kieran Maguire: New Chelsea chief was universally unpopular at Tottenham
Chelsea fans will refuse to rename Stamford Bridge if a naming rights deal is agreed by the club's board.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Blues fans will continue to call their home ground Stamford Bridge regardless of any sponsorship deals.
As reported by The Telegraph, Tottenham commercial chief Todd Kline resigned from his role in North London to join Chelsea after a period of gardening leave.
Football Insider revealed that Kline will be tasked with working on Chelsea's £1.5billion project to build a new stadium.
The American was hired by Spurs to work on a naming rights deal for their new stadium constructed in 2019, but he failed to strike an agreement.
Ex-Spurs chief Todd Kline tipped to fail at Chelsea
Maguire believes it is a 'strange' decision by Chelsea to hire Kline as he will also struggle to find a lucrative naming rights deal at Chelsea.
"If Todd Kline is tasked with a naming rights deal at Chelsea then good luck to him," Maguire told Football Insider's Sean Fisher.
"There wasn't a long queue of people at Spurs wishing him a fond farewell given his somewhat abrasive personality.
"So it seems a strange decision by Chelsea because he had more than one job but the most important and significant job he had - he failed to deliver.
"Stamford Bridge is Stamford Bridge and it will always be called that to diehard Chelsea fans.
"Therefore, sticking a new name on the front of it won’t be very beneficial financially.
"They might get a few words in the media about a Nike Stamford Bridge or Apple Stamford Bridge but it won’t be common language used by fans.
"We’ve seen at other clubs that it only tends to work when sponsors are associated from day one."
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