Worrying claim offered about Chelsea's front-of-shirt sponsorship situation | OneFootball

Chelsea are likely to have an even harder time finding front-of-shirt sponsorship for next season amid the expected influx of clubs entering the market this summer, according to journalist Matt Law.

Last weekend, Chelsea announced that they had agreed a multi-year partnership with industrial AI company, IFS.

IFS has also become the club's principal partner, with its logo already featured on the front of the players' shirts in their last Premier League fixture, the 1-1 draw against Burnley at the weekend.

However, while IFS and Chelsea will remain partners until 2028, the front-of-shirt agreement only lasts until the end of the season.

The Telegraph's Law has criticised Chelsea's failure to secure a long-term front-of-shirt partnership despite the club's promises at the start of the season.

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"I've got very, very cynical (about) all this now," Law told the London is Blue podcast when speaking about Chelsea's front-of-shirt sponsorship situation.

"I was told at the start of the season that they would be signing a long-term sponsor.

"Well, that's not been the case.

"Now, I'm struggling to believe what I'm told on the sponsorship issue, if I'm honest.

"It feels like they're in a sort of revolving cycle of not getting a sponsor, holding out for too much money, and then getting a sticking plaster for the end of the season or offering a little incentive to a company to just pay a bit more for a 'normal' sponsorship and put the name on the shirt."

Chelsea facing more competition for front-of-shirt sponsorship next season

Law also highlighted how Chelsea will now have even more competition for front-of-shirt sponsorship for the upcoming season.

"It's going to get ever harder now," he explained.

"It's going to become more crowded because I think I'm right that this is the last year of betting sponsors.

"So you have an influx of clubs, including (Aston) Villa, Newcastle (United), Everton, who've all got betting sponsors, and now they come into the market to find non-betting sponsors for the front of shirts.

"And the market shrinks because there are only so many non-betting companies that can afford to or are interested."

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Law was referring to the agreement between Premier League clubs to end all front-of-shirt sponsorship from gambling companies from the end of this season.

As it stands, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs have betting companies on the front of their shirts.

These include Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley, Everton, Fulham, West Ham United, and more.

Chelsea arguably have the higher profile compared to most of these clubs, and could attract more eyes, but at the same time, they would likely demand a more lucrative deal than most.