Chelsea waiting for green light from Man City amid talks over £50m-a-year deal

Chelsea are watching with interest as a high-profile case involving Man City could be set to give them a huge financial boost.

Under Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, Chelsea have seen themselves as disruptors in the Premier League in everything from recruitment to commercial strategy.

And even with factions led by Boehly and Eghbali are at loggerheads in the boardroom amid suggestions that each are looking to buy the other investor out, the show must go on.

Having spent over £1bn on new signings, many of whom have failed to inspire, Chelsea are desperate to claw back some cash in the commercial market.

Unlike plans to expand or move away from Stamford Bridge which will take years, commercial income can be something of a quick fix for a club’s short-term PSR needs.

The Premier League‘s PSR – or Profit and Sustainability Rules – limit clubs to losing £105m over a rolling three-year period and Chelsea are walking a tightrope in terms of compliance this season.

They need to do everything they can to increase revenue – and so it has been a major surprise to see their front-of-shirt sponsorship rights remain unfilled.

But regulatory developments at Premier League HQ could bode well for the club’s chances of securing top dollar for a front-of-shirt deal.

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Chelsea’s front-of-shirt talks impacted by Man City case

Just as they did in 2023-24, Chelsea have begun the season without a front-of-shirt sponsor.

This is a big deal. Front-of-shirt rights are typically the most valuable property in a club’s commercial inventory and for a club like Chelsea can be up to an eighth of their total annual revenue.

It appears that the West London club’s £50m-a-year appraisal of their front of shirt rights has been to hih, with several sponsors seemingly balking at that price tag.

However, Chelsea’s decision to wait to pull the trigger could pay off if – as has been suggested by several major outlets – Man City have won a victory against the Premier League in a recent arbitration case.

In what is seen as a counter attack against the 115 charges case, City have challenged the Premier League’s rules on associated party transactions (APT).

Under the APT rules, deals struck with companies which could be deemed to have a link with a club’s ownership must be assessed for fair market value in order to prevent artificially inflated partnerships.

Chelsea’s deal with Infinite Athlete last season, for example, was deemed to be an associated party deal.

According to legal expert and former Man City adviser Stefan Borson, Chelsea may have been reluctant to sign a deal when the arbitration case could see the APT rules revised.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Borson said: “Let’s say your Chelsea and you want a new front-of-shirt sponsor and someone is offering you £40m.

“You have got to know what the regime is tomorrow if you want to process that commercial deal.

“Time is of the essence in commercial deals. It can’t just be ‘well, we’ll eventually get around the changing it at the next shareholder meeting’.

“So if City have won a substantiative victory, I think the rules would have changed quite considerably.

“I suspect that if City have won aspects of this, they are not the more material aspects of the rules.”

How much are Chelsea’s front-of-shirt rights really worth?

If Chelsea were to strike a £50m-a-year deal, that would make their rights the third-most valuable in the Premier League.

Man United’s deal with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon brand is worth more than £60m per year, while Man City’s partnership with Etihad – which includes stadium naming rights – is worth £67.5m-a-year.

Liverpool’s deal with Standard Chartered deal meanwhile is also worth £50m per year, while Arsenal and Tottenham each bank around £30m-a-year for their front-of-shirt rights.