Chelsea sign £60m-a-year kit sponsorship deal with Nike

According to reports, Premier League giants Chelsea have signed the second most lucrative kit sponsorship deal with Nike in the history of football. This deal trumps the previous deal Chelsea had with Adidas AG who paid £30 million a year, signed in 2013.

Chelsea having bought out the Adidas deal will now have to pay a compensation of £40 million, as they terminated the contract six years before it was actually supposed to run out. The deal will take effect from July 2017 and will run for the next 10 years. The Premier League club announced the divorce with Adidas last week, in what was a shock announcement to many.

This comes as a major coup for the Blues after they missed out on the money from the European competitions for the first time in the Abramovic era after finishing 10^th this season. This deal, the Londoners believe will help them compete with the top dogs in European football.

The new deal puts Chelsea ahead of both Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have £28 million and £34 million deals respectively. It also puts the Premier League club ahead of Bayern Munich, who currently have a £42.5 million deal with Adidas.

Manchester United is the only club who have a more lucrative deal than Chelsea’s, with the Red Devils netting a handsome £75 million-a-year from Adidas. The rest of the Premier League top dogs earn nothing compared to the deal that Chelsea have had, with Arsenal earning £30 million-a-year from Puma and Liverpool currently earning £25 million-a-year from Warrior Sports. Manchester City are earning less than one-fourth at 12 million-a-year with Nike.

This seems to have a huge impact on Chelsea’s finances, which will see them earn £600 million in their 10-year partnership with Nike. The ex-Premier League champions hope this will cover up for the loss of £40 million they will incur due to missing out on Champions League this season.

Chelsea have had a successful partnership with Adidas, having won two Premier League titles and a Champions League title to name a few during their 10-year stint.

The brilliant deal goes down to the great work of Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia, who reportedly was a key figure behind the scenes for this deal. She was also instrumental in Chelsea cracking a deal with the Japanese rubber company Yokohama as the title sponsor, who pay the Blues £40 million-a-year.

This deal will also seemingly helps the London-based club in their quest to be Financial Fair Play (FFP) compliant, which couldn’t have come at a better time with Chelsea missing out on Champions League this season.