THE pressure is on former Spurs chief Todd Kline to deliver a shirt deal for Chelsea.
The Blues have just announced that Kline will become president of commercial and take up the responsibilities of former chief revenue officer Casper Stylsvig.
The Dane left the club last month and his exit has been linked to Chelsea not finding a sponsor willing to pay £60m or so to put their name on the front of the shirt.
It is the second reshuffle of senior executives at Chelsea in a year.
In September 2024, chief executive Chris Jurasek left after just 15 months in the job.
Jason Gannon, who was already chief operating officer, was soon made club president as well and has in effect been doing much of the CEO role since.
In the new shake-up ex-AC Milan and Arsenal exec Jamie Murray is promoted to the COO role, while former Manchester United man Phil Lynch adds the title of chief digital officer to his marketing and other duties.
Murray, Lynch and Kline will all report into Gannon, who retains the title of president.
Confused? There will be a test in the end.
But what Chelsea fans thinking of buying a new replica kit for Christmas need to know is that Kline’s main task is getting a name on the front of it.
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The American arrived at Stamford Bridge last November after a long spell of gardening leave following his resignation from Tottenham.
His CV includes securing the Hard Rock stadium naming rights deal for the Miami Dolphins NFL team in 2016, when the £180m fee represented one of the biggest sponsorships of its type at the time.
Kline oversaw impressive growth in commercial revenue at Spurs in his short spell there.
But he was unable to bring in a naming rights deal for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (no-one else has managed it since he left, to be fair).
Chelsea will hope Kline has more success with finding their first long-term front of shirt sponsor since EE’s £40m-a-year deal expired in 2023.
The line coming out of the Blues is that it’s not just about the bottom line, the deal has to have the potential to go beyond a name on a replica kit and to align with the club’s values.
Maybe, but in the end Chelsea is 61.5 per cent owned by private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
They are not a charity. Even the cuddliest private equity investor will tell you that their three main priorities are making money, making more money, and then making even more money.
CHICKEN AND EGH
That is a big reason why Clearlake co-founder and managing partner Behdad Eghbali has for some time been the main man at Chelsea.
The people and companies whose money Clearlake have invested in Chelsea would expect nothing less
Although Todd Boehly has a decent block of shares in the club, was the face of the initial takeover in 2022, had a spell as sporting director and remains chairman, he is not nearly as involved as Egbhali on a day-to-day basis.
Gannon is understood to be highly regarded by the co-owners and by club staff.
But Eghbali is ultimately the man who calls the shots.
The billionaire takes a very keen interest in every area of the business, not least maximising the value of the shirt sponsorship.
And with Stylsvig gone, Kline will be in the spotlight.
JOSE NO BOUNDS
IF Jose Mourinho were not coming back to Stamford Bridge as Benfica boss next week, he might well have been there as a fan.
The house that Mourinho bought in Belgravia during his first spell in charge of the Blues remains the family home and the club’s most successful manager was intending to attend games this season.
Chelsea have no particular plans to mark the Special One’s homecoming at Tuesday’s Champions League clash.
Mourinho has returned to the Bridge before, as Manchester United and Tottenham boss.
But insiders hope and expect there will be no repeat of what happened at the Chelsea v United game in 2017.
A group of younger fans taunted Mourinho with cries of Judas and other abuse.
When he responded by reminding them of the number of Premier League titles he had won with the club, other Blues supporters joined in the row.
Mourinho himself has shown little sign of mellowing with age. Quite the opposite, in fact.
But Chelsea fans will surely give him the respect he deserves next Tuesday.
IN THE MUD
SPANISH media outlet Marca were fast out of the blocks to publish the sensational news that Mykhailo Mudryk was quitting football to become a sprinter.
Mudryk, it was said, was aiming to represent Ukraine at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Huge story. If true.
But the fact Marca have now quietly removed the original article suggests they have finally come to their senses.
It looks like they picked up a post from an account on X and ran with it.
Yet a couple of phone calls or just a bit of common sense would have exposed the hoax.
For a start, Mudryk is still waiting for his anti-doping case to be heard.
If he ends up being cleared, or getting only a short ban, will he really give up being a highly-paid footballer for life in track and field?
And if he receives a four-year ban for testing positive for meldonium, which some think he will, then the 2028 Olympics would be immediately ruled out anyway.
Much was made of Mudryk’s top speed of 36.37km/h on the football field.
But the flying winger would have to increase that by 1km/h AND keep it up for an entire 100m to live with elite sprinters on the track.
For context, Usain Bolt’s average speed in his world-record run was 37.58km/h and he peaked at 44.72km/h.
Those are just some of the reasons the story was never going to be true.
Marca have recognised their error. Unlike many of those who eagerly repeated it.
THROWN UNDER THE BUS
CHELSEA may have landed two trophies in the space of a few months over the summer and returned to the Champions League.
But shaking off the big-spending, erratic image of their early days under the ownership of Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly may take a while longer.
Ahead of Chelsea's Champions League return at Bayern Munich last week, Bavarian paper TZ ran a story on the club's evolution in the last few years under the headline 'from laughing stock to bogeyman'.
They could not resist an artistic jibe at the size of the bloated Blues squad, running a mocked-up image of a five-decker bus rammed with players.
Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca have all had to deal with large squads, though the current boss has taken a tougher line than most.
Maresca started at Chelsea last summer with a group of over 40 first team players, though made it clear he was only working with a group of around 21, with another 20 training alone - a group which became their 'bomb squad'.
PAEZ TURNER
ON-LOAN Chelsea wonderkid Kendry Paez scored his first goal for sister club Strasbourg and pulled out another copycat celebration.
Paez, 18, previously did the “Cold Palmer” made famous by Cole Palmer (but allegedly invented by Blues target Morgan Rogers).
But when the Ecuador international notched in Strasbourg’s 3-2 over Paris FC, he opted for a “Joao Pedro” - right hand over face and left thumb pointing down.
Eagle-eyed Chelsea fans appreciated the tribute.
But they might have missed what happened when future Blues striker Emanuel Emegha scored in the same game.
Emegha has been booed by some Strasbourg fans after being pictured with a Chelsea shirt ahead of his move to Stamford Bridge, which was originally scheduled for next summer but might now be brought forward to January.
And supporters who feel their club is becoming a Blues B team refused to celebrate when he put the ball in the net.
LAVIA-LY STUFF
BALLON d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele is an inspiration for Romeo Lavia’s road to recovery.
The Belgian midfielder is still not match fit after his run of nightmare injuries,
And on his “secret” Instagram account, Lavia has posted a number of pictures of Paris Saint-Germain star Dembele when he was struggling with injury at Barcelona.
The images of Dembele are accompanied by a quote which reads: “Whatever is meant for you will find you, and it won't require you to be anything more than you already are.
“It'll fit right into your life and make you realise that everything that left was never a loss to begin with.”
Unfortunately for Lavia he has had plenty of time to become philosophical.
Since arriving from Southampton for an initial £53m two summers ago, he has made just 23 appearances for Chelsea.
But Blues boss Enzo Maresca confirmed ahead of the Lincoln Carabao Cup tie that Lavia and fellow long-term absentee Benoit Badiashile had joined in group training this week, so perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.
