New Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has reportedly been given the go-ahead to launch a major spending spree after the club signed a whopping 300 million-pound deal for ten years with Adidas.
The sponsorship is a world record fee for an agreement between a football club and a kit manufacturer, with the staggering figures easing Chelsea's concerns about falling foul of UEFA's new Financial Fair Play regulations, The Sun reports.
With the deal breaking the previous landmark of 287 million pounds, which Manchester United signed with Nike for a 15-year term back in 2000, the report said that now Chelsea would no longer have to solely depend on billionaire owner Roman Abramovich to bankroll them.
According to Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay, the new deal reaffirms Adidas' belief in status of Chelsea in world football, with the report adding that success in the Champions League and Europa League, coupled with Mourinho's return as manager, has raised the club's global appeal.
The report further said that Chelsea's previous agreement with Adidas, first signed in 2006 and renegotiated in 2010, was worth around 20 million pounds a year.
The deal is the third major kit agreement in recent weeks after Arsenal signed a 30 million pounds-a-year deal with Puma and Liverpool signed for 25 million pounds-a-year with Warrior, the report added.
