Chelsea finally 'close' to announcing new front of shirt sponsor | OneFootball

Chelsea could finally be close to landing a new shirt sponsor after playing just under half of the 2024/25 season with no branding adorning the front of their jerseys.

Amid major upheaval in the wake of the club's 2022 takeover, Chelsea have started two successive campaigns without a front of shirt sponsor. While the shirt may have a more 'pure' look without a logo or company name slapped across the front of it, it is revenue the club is missing out on.

For reference, Manchester United's current deal with Qualcomm, displaying the company's Snapdragon brand on shirts, is thought to be worth £300m over five years through to 2029.

Chelsea entered into a short-term £40m partnership with Infinite Athlete a few weeks into 2023/24. But no new partner was found for this campaign and the Blues have continued to play in plain shirts.

Chelsea started last season with sponsorless shirts too / Visionhaus/GettyImages

The Daily Mail explains that Chelsea officials believed they could command better offers than they received during the summer, with that patience potentially about to pay off now that the Blues have surged back up the Premier League table.

As many as five companies are said to be "in the hunt" to win the contract, with Chelsea described as "close to announcing" a new primary shirt sponsor. No names are given, but the Mail report notes those involved are three airlines and two tech firms.

Emirates and Etihad Airways are already represented in the Premier League at Arsenal and Manchester City respectively. But more than half (11) of the 20 top flight clubs this season still display betting firms, even with a collective agreement in place to withdraw gambling sponsors from the front of matchday jerseys from the start of 2026/27.

Among Chelsea's more memorable shirt sponsors over the last 30 years have been Coors, Autoglass, Emirates and Samsung.