Chelsea have reportedly agreed on a £60m-per-year kit deal with Nike that will land them the second-most lucrative kit deal in the world at the moment.
Manchester United still have the most lucrative kit deal in Europe with their £75m-per-year Adidas sponsorship but Chelsea’s £60m kit deal is twice what Arsenal are paid (£30m) by Puma and is more than three times (£12m) what Manchester City earn from Nike.
It is worth even more than Real Madrid, although the Spanish giants are thought to be negotiating a record-breaking £100m-per-year kit deal with either Adidas or Nike.
Last week Chelsea and Adidas had mutually agreed to terminate their existing partnership agreement. Adidas confirmed on their website that they won’t be sponsoring the Chelsea kit from 2017-18 and their agreement had comes to an end six months in advance.
When the news first broke out of the £40m Adidas contract pay-off it was anticipated that Chelsea had some good offers lined up as a replacement. And it turns out to be the case, with the credit solely goes to Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia, who negotiated the new kit deal.
Although Chelsea have officially yet to comment on the Nike kit sponsorship, but the deal is assumed to be at least 10 years which would make the deal worth a total of £600m.
The new Nike sponsorship will help the club compete at the top end of the transfer market despite failing to qualify for the Champions League.
It will provide Chelsea a £30m-a-year in Financial Fair Play leeway from next summer. Under the FFP rule the clubs are currently allowed to spend around £23m more than they earn for 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18.
Chelsea’s failure to qualify for the Champions League will cost them at least £40m, but with the new kit deal being agreed, it won’t leave a significant impact on their spending power for this summer.
The Blues are attempting to sign one or two marquee names this summer with the aim of finishing within the top four next season. Signing a quality striker is a top priority with Chelsea reportedly considering making moves for either Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain or Everton’s Romelu Lukaku.
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