Nike Are Considering 'Walking Away' From Monstrous Chelsea Kit Deal Worth £540 Million
Sportswear giant Nike are considering 'walking away' from their mammoth 15 year kit deal with Chelsea, according to reports.
Owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government on Thursday morning and all his assets have been frozen.
The club's shirt sponsor, mobile phone firm Three, have already confirmed they will be suspending their sponsorship until further notice.
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It's now been reported by the Daily Mail that shirt manufacturer Nike could take that step too.
Chelsea agreed a partnership with Nike in 2016 which was worth around £900 million.
According to reports, it could lose the reigning world champions a staggering £540 million.
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Chelsea are currently unable to sell any merchandise and closed their shop at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
They're also not allowed to sell any tickets to games and only existing ticket holders can attend for the rest of this season.
Other sanctions include being unable to sign new players, renew contracts or sell players.
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are all out of contract in the summer.
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Christensen is expected to join Barcelona as a free agent and had made that decision before Thursday's sanctions.
Azpilicueta and Rudiger's futures were not decided however and it now looks complicated, with both leaving as things stand.
Despite the uncertainty, Chelsea ran out 3-1 winners over Norwich City in a convincing performance.
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Goals from Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz helped Thomas Tuchel's men strengthen their grip on third place.
Tuchel was asked about the off-pitch situation in his post-match interview.
"Let’s see if it stays like this," Tuchel told BBC 5 Live Sport. "If it does, I don’t know. We take it day by day. I didn’t see that coming yesterday and I don’t know what is coming tomorrow.
"Everybody can be very sure that we focus on us, to keep the attitude and the mentality right on the training ground and within the team.
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"So far we can trust each other and this will not change.
"As long as we have enough shirts and a bus to drive to the games we will be there and will compete hard."
Chelsea return to action against Newcastle United at home on Sunday, where there'll likely be over 12,000 empty seats.
Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Nike
Daniel Marland