Chelsea 'concerned' about £8m black hole as off-pitch deal terminated - Keith Wyness

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Chelsea will be “concerned” about a potential hole in their budget if they are not paid by troubled shirt sponsor Fever.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital will have to invest more money and relationship capital to fix the shortfall.

Chelsea agreed a deal in August for the logo of entertainment discovery platform Fever to feature on the men, women and academy players’ kits for the 2024-25 campaign.

According to sports business expert Lukasz Baczek (19 December), the deal has now “ended prematurely” due to financial issues.

In August, Football Insider revealed that the sleeve sponsorship agreement is believed to have been worth between £6-8million for this season.

Fever’s logo has now been removed from the website of Chelsea, who are without a front-of-shirt sponsor in the 2024-25 season.

Chelsea ‘concerned’ as Fever deal collapses, says Wyness

Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “I’ve been checking this one and I’ve not been able to confirm that Fever are in such deep trouble that they’ll not be able to pay the money.

“There are rumours suggesting that.

“Chelsea have been sticking out for a certain valuation on their sponsorship, and if they don’t get the money for this one – it’s a big hole in the budgets.

“It’ll be another hole that Boehly and Clearlake will have to fill themselves.

“It’ll be a big red ink blot on their balance sheets. Chelsea have deep enough pockets to handle it, but it’s not good to miss your forecasts.

“I know there will be concern. They’ve changed commercial directors and CEOs a few times now, but it shows that the grass isn’t always greener.”

In other news, Chelsea “will accept Carney Cukwuemeka offer” in January.

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