Chelsea are seeking just £25m from their main shirt sponsor as the hierarchy desperately look to secure some income.
The Blues are running out of time to find a commercial partner after being forced to unveil their kit without one recently. It leaves them behind the eight ball and those at Stamford Bridge are now ready to accept a huge reduction on their original demands in order to get someone on board.
Any sponsor that now comes forward will land both Chelsea's men's and women's team's shirts with the Premier League recently vetoing a prospective deal with international steaming service Paramount+, worth around £60m, with bosses making it known that was in breach of the Deed of License rules.
Previous sponsors Three were paying around £40m but the Blues are likely to fall well short of that price. They had looked to strike a deal with betting company Stake, who have been seen on Everton's shirts, but pulled out due to fan backlash with gambling companies being phased out of shirt sponsorship in the coming years.
Chelsea have called upon the services of Creative Artists Agency to help with the search as time runs out with their season opener against Liverpool in just a months time. The Daily Mail reports that a host of big name companies have been contacted as the Blues look to strike a deal.
Whatever they land is set to be far less than their top six rivals. Manchester City currently bank £67m from their all-round package with Etihad, United land £47m from Team Viewer, Liverpool's deal with Standard Charter is worth north of £50m a year, while Tottenham pick up £40m from AIA.
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The issue is the latest blow for Chelsea's American owners, who have made a catalogue of errors since buying the club from Roman Abramovich. Already they are on their third permanent manager despite only owning the club for a year whilst they've spurned millions on new players.
That investment hasn't reaped rewards on the pitch with some of their signings from last summer, such as Kalidou Koulibaly, already being moved on. Huge playing spending has forced the club to balance the books with the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount also seeking pastures new.
Chelsea are not the only top flight side to be desperately seeking a new shirt sponsor after Nottingham Forest revealed last season's kit with a blank space. They too are seeking someone as they look to conclude a deal.
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