By Adam Williams, Finance & Governance Correspondent

12th May, 2023 | 7:00am

Sources: Behind-the-scenes Chelsea update as £20m-a-year deal terminated

Chelsea are not in discussions with cryptocurrency firms for either their sleeve or front-of-shirt sponsorship rights, sources have told Football Insider

The West London side had previously considered getting back into bed with another crypto firm despite the failure of their £20m-a-year sleeve deal with WhaleFin.

That partnership had to be terminated early when the company ran into financial difficulties after the collapse of leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

But Chelsea now appear to have changed course, according to one commercial source with intimate knowledge of the sponsorship market.

It is understood that the club is instead engaged in discussions with several companies from the more conventional finance, technology and automotive sectors.

It has been reported elsewhere that German banking giant Allianz is one of the firms in contention for Chelsea’s front-of-shirt rights, although Football Insider has at this stage been unable to verify that information

Sources have previously told this site that the Blues are likely to accept a contract with a lower base rate and greater performance-related incentives due to their failure to secure Champions League football this season.

Commercial performance has never been more important for the club given their excessive, record-busting expenditure in the transfer market since the advent of Todd Boehly’s premiership as owner.

The American billionaire has identified sponsorship as a major growth area for the club and was said to be stunned at the club’s relative lack of commercial deals when compared to their peers.

Chelsea have just 15 active partnerships, in contrast to Man United’s 48 and Man City’s 42.

In other news, Man City £40m offer for Chelsea star will be accepted.