By Kieran Maguire

3rd Oct, 2023 | 5:55am

Kieran Maguire slams 'amateurish' Chelsea as talks open over £60m deal

It is ‘critical’ for Chelsea to find a long-term shirt sponsor for 2024/25 onwards to provide the club with financial clarity.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Chelsea’s sponsor search this summer.

The Blues began the 2023/24 season without a front-of-shirt sponsor after failing to strike a deal in time to replace previous partners Three.

Chelsea have since announced a short-term deal with US-based company Infinite Athlete in an agreement worth £40million this season.

However, Football Insider revealed on Friday (30 September) that Chelsea are already in talks with potential partners for 2024/25 after deeming this summer’s negotiations a ‘mistake’.

As reported by The Athletic, Chelsea will look to find a sponsorship package worth up to £60million for the 2024/25 season after holding talks with Saudi Arabian airline Riyadh Air over a potential deal.

Maguire believes Chelsea acted ‘amateurish’ this summer and should look to find a sponsorship deal much earlier for next season.

“Yes, I do think this is a case of Chelsea trying to avoid similar mistakes,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“Chelsea have at times come across as being quite amateurish in their strategy this summer.

“Normally, you would negotiate a deal well in advance of the start of the season.

“Part of the reason for that is to help with the kit designs for the 2024/25 season.

“It is a long process and therefore you need to have some indication as to the sponsor well in advance.

“Given the amount of money that they have spent on players and the fact that they’re already having to go to third-party sources for funding means that getting clarity of cash flow going forward is absolutely critical for the club.“

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