Can you buy Chelsea's new home kit without a sponsor?
- Chelsea's '90s inspired' 2023/24 home kit has been unveiled
- Club yet to reach an agreement for a shirt sponsor
- Kit cannot be bought until mid-August
Chelsea are determined to rid the memories of 2022/23, and the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino has brought about fresh optimism.
The Blues have moved efficiently in the transfer window thus far and have made an excellent start to clearing out the heaps of deadwood they had on their books. Poch will be looking to trim down his bloated squad ahead of 2023/23, while adding players capable of shining within his framework.
While the club have negotiated well over the transferring of personnel, there have been more difficulties when speaking to potential shirt sponsors for next season and beyond. Chelsea were one of just a few Premier League clubs yet to reveal their new shirt for 2023/24 before their clean, classy and currently sponsorless look was displayed for the first time on Monday morning.
Chelsea 2023/24 home kit release
Chelsea unveiled their new home strip for the 2023/24 campaign on Monday morning. The currently sponsorless jersey is said to be '90s inspired' and an ode to the kit worn by the club 25 years ago during the 1997/98 season which culminated in three pieces of silverware.
The late Gianluca Vialli's Blues won the League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
The shirt, tinged with white and gold accents on the sleeves, also boasts and iridescent crest, which 'highlights the prestige and glamour of the famous King’s Road in the ’90s'. Overall, Nike's new release is clean and classy, but it will soon be joined by a shirt sponsor (the club hope).
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Why can't you buy the 2023/24 Chelsea home kit yet?
While Chelsea have unveiled their 2023/24 home kit, it cannot be bought until its official release on 23 August 2023. Fans will be able to purchase it through early access from 16 August via the Chelsea Megastore at Stamford Bridge, the club's official online store and the Nike website.
The club were keen to show off their new look for the upcoming season, but the current absence of a shirt sponsor means supporters will have to wait a while until they can actually buy a shirt.
Chelsea will hope to have an agreement in place well in time of the official release, although reports have suggested that there will at least be an initial batch of shirts which will be available without a sponsor.
Why do Chelsea not have a shirt sponsor yet?
Chelsea's three-year agreement with mobile network Three expired in the summer and the club have been on the lookout for a new shirt sponsor.
The Blues first came close to agreeing a lucrative multi-year contract with American broadcaster Paramount+, but the Premier League stepped in and vetoed the deal due to potential problems it could cause with licensing and other broadcast partners.
Talks with German insurance firm Allianz proved unsuccessful the first time around, but the two parties could reconvene in the near future after Chelsea backed out of a potential partnership with gambling platform Stake.com following supporter backlash.
While the Blues could feasibly head into the new season with a shirt sponsor - as Nottingham Forest did last term - it's unlikely that they'll miss out on such a sizeable source of commercial revenue when their partnership was Three was worth a reported £40m per year.
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On this edition of Son of Chelsea, part of the 90min podcast network, Daniel Childs reacts to the latest Chelsea news, including Mauricio Pochettino’s first press conference.
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