Football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley believes Chelsea are set to lose out as the club’s sponsorship with WhaleFin looks set to be terminated.
Speaking with Football Insider, Plumley said the Blues may have to ‘chase as much cash as possible’ from their former sponsors.
Chelsea partnered with the cryptocurrency firm in the leadup to the new season, but according to reports (as per Bloomberg), the sponsorship is set to end due to an issue involving the recent FTX scandal.
This means the club will have to look for a new sponsor while rivals continue to get cash from their own deals.
Plumley stated: “I know WhaleFin are trying to look at their legal options in terms of pulling out of the deal. It was thought to be worth around £20m, which I thought was very high.
“For that kind of deal, it’s much higher than we have ever seen. It looked like a great deal. Whether they got any of that money upfront, I don’t know.
“The implications for the club are that you have to chase as much of that cash down as possible. You then have to find a replacement because all your rivals are continuing to get money from these deals.
“So they are in a position where they have to go out and find another partner.
“I always thought this one was a little bit risky given what we have seen from the crypto space. I don’t think they are going to find another deal of this value. I would expect it to be worth about half of that.”
TIF Thoughts on Plumley’s comments…
If the issue is not resolved quickly, this could potentially impact the level of financial income at Chelsea.
It’s not just the ‘big six’ they have to be concerned with, as clubs like Newcastle United have huge investors since their takeover in October 2021.
There’s a possibility that it could have a negative impact on their spending in the future transfer windows, too – which is perhaps awful timing for Chelsea as they are in desperate need of goals, with only seven Premier League sides having scored less often than them.
Furthermore, Raheem Sterling is their top league scorer with a total of just five. Meanwhile, Kai Havertz only has four strikes to his name and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has three.
Additionally, Armando Broja has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which will likely see him out of action for a considerable period.
And while the true financial implications are unknown at present, Chelsea will hope they can get this issue sorted out sooner rather than later in order to avoid suffering any serious impact.