Chelsea may have missed out on a blockbuster commercial deal worth tens of millions – and that is bad news for the transfer budget.
Under controversial owner Todd Boehly, the club have taken a radical approach towards recruitment and sponsorship which is very much yet to pay dividends.
Mauricio Pochettino‘s side are currently 7th in the Premier League and will miss out on European football of any description next season if they fail to improve their position.
That blow is likely to scupper their chances of securing a lucrative partnership with Nike’s Jordan brand, who have previously been linked with a tie-in with the Blues.
That would be a major blow not only for the club’s financiers but also the sporting department at Cobham who rely on commercial revenue to be able to operate freely in the transfer market.
How much of an FFP blow is Chelsea kit setback for the transfer budget?
Chelsea are already locked into a 15-year, £900mkit supplier deal with Nike and there will therefore likely be scope for collaboration with Jordan in years to come.
But with the club in dire need of income to be able to navigate FFP constraints, the near-instant cash injection a Jordan deal would provide will be missed.
Paris Saint-Germain‘s association with the Jordan brand saw shirt sales rocket by 470 per cent in the United States when it was first launched in 2019.
The US is a market Chelsea are consciously targeting. And with the club retaining around 10 per cent of every shirt sale as part of their agreement with Nike, the earning potential would have been vast.
The bulk of kit sales take place within seven days of launch, which would have boosted the club’s coffers as soon as they were able to get a deal over the line.
And while journalist David Ornstein recently claimed that Chelsea do not need to sell players in order to spend in the transfer market this summer, Chelsea are approaching their FFP date with destiny.
The club have already faced scrutiny for selling two on-site hotels to another company within Boehly’s network in order to satisfy FFP requirements.
Now, the club is believed to have sold the Cobham Training Ground complex in a similar move. And Boehly and co cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road.
How does this play into Chelsea’s Cobham Training Ground controversy?
The Jordan deal is not the first time Chelsea have let a potentially lucrative commercial partnership slip through their fingertips.
The club began 2023-24 without a front-of-shirt sponsor after deals with a number of blue-chip companies fell through andit looks like the same could now happen in 2024-25.
Missed opportunities have meant that Chelsea have had to resort to FFP-busting tricks, such as tying new signings down to NFL-style long-term contracts and selling infrastructure to associated parties.
In the latest such venture, former Man City financial advisor Stefan Borson has claimed in a post on X that Chelsea “have now attempted to sell (or have actually sold) their Cobham Training Ground to themselves.”
If accurate, the arrangement would be further proof that Chelsea’s sub-par sporting performance is damaging their ability to compete off the pitch in terms of sponsorship and FFP rules.
