Chelsea’s desperate search for a shirt sponsor for the season to come has led to them dropping their demands by £15m for a season, according to an exclusive today.
Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail has been all over this story from the start, and he’s brought the latest update on our frantic search.
After getting £40m a year from Three in our last deal, the club were hoping for £60m in a new deal according to the piece. But as it stands, they will accept £25m for this year according to Keegan – and throw in the women’s team for free. Presumably the failures on the pitch last season contribute to that drop too.
The kit has already been launched – sponsor free – so the pressure is lessened slightly as that deadline has been missed. But every day counts if we want to see the players wearing it for our first game of the season a month tomorrow against Liverpool.
The story so far has seen the Blues agreed two deals that have fallen through, and they will now certainly start their US tour wearing blank shirts, and unless progress is made very quickly (which it could well be, with an affordable new asking price), we risk the embarrassment of starting the season with a sponsorless shirt.
We love the look aesthetically, but it’s certainly not a great look for the ownership. Even if they sign someone up today, £25m is a desperation sum if it’s true they were hoping for £60m.
