• Premier League

Chelsea agree £40m-a-year shirt deal

Chelsea have announced a club-record shirt sponsorship deal worth a reported £40 million per season with Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama Rubber.

The five-year agreement is said to be second only in the Premier League to Manchester United's deal with US car manufacturer Chevrolet, which is worth a reported £47m per season.

"Chelsea Football Club is delighted to unveil The Yokohama Rubber Company Ltd as our new official shirt partner in our largest-ever commercial deal," said a club statement.

"This places Chelsea right at the top of European football, with one of the biggest shirt sponsorships ever signed.

"This partnership with one of the world's leading tyre manufacturers is for an initial term of five years and begins at the start of the 2015-16 season.

"It will see the Yokohama brand appearing on all of our shirts from our first team to our youth teams."

Yokohama Rubber replace Korean electronic giants Samsung, who have sponsored Chelsea since 2005 in a deal which was re-signed in 2013 and worth a reported £18m.

The agreement was concluded on Thursday, four days before Chelsea play Tottenham in the League Cup final.

Chelsea, who agreed a 10-year kit deal with Adidas worth in the region of £300m in June 2013, hope the shirt deal will help the club, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in their bid to be self-sufficient.

The club plan "to be one of Europe's leading football clubs with a self-financing model which is fully compliant with the UEFA Financial Fair Play rules", the statement added.

Yokohama Rubber chairman Tadanobu Nagumo shakes hands with Jose Mourinho © PA Photos

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