Behdad Eghbali is trying to get Chelsea a front of shirt sponsor from Saudi Arabia but is afraid of backlash from fans like with Stake according to reports.
For the second consecutive season Chelsea have found themselves in a situation where they have launched their home shirt with no sponsor.
Infinite Athlete were the front of shirt sponsors last season, but their deal was only for a year and they will reportedly become the sleeve sponsor.
Eghbali trying to sort Saudi shirt sponsor
No Champions League football means the club aren’t able to negotiate as lucrative a sponsorship deal as they would like.
Lukasz Baczek, who works in Sports marketing has reported that Eghbali is currently solely responsible for finding a front of shirt sponsor and he is trying to source a sponsor from Saudi Arabia which isn’t Riyadh Air, but he’s afraid of backlash from supporters like with Stake.
🚨The club's internal structures (CEO, CRO, SDs) have different opinions on various topics, so currently Behdad Eghbali is only responsible for finding a new front-of-shirt sponsor.
🚨Eghbali is trying to get a sponsor from Saudi Arabia (it's not about Riyadh Air), but he is… pic.twitter.com/UPA5vvDlDm— Łukasz Bączek (@Lu_Class_) July 17, 2024
Chelsea are believed to want a deal worth £45m-£50m per year and Baczek adds that talks are ongoing, but no one is able to offer that money.
The Saudis are reportedly willing to reach an agreement, but only at fair market value and the Public Investment Fund are believed to have a good relationship with Clearlake Capital as they invest into the company.
It’s not a great look for the club to be in the same situation for the second season running and having to announce new signings in the new training kit and last season’s shirt.
Chelsea will seemingly have to accept a deal at less than they want because they aren’t in the Champions League, and it appears their best bet will be to find a short team deal, and then once they are back in the Champions League they can negotiate a longer more lucrative sponsorship deal.
