Chelsea appoints new commercial director: main task is to find a sponsor.

According to The Sun: Todd Klein, former director of Tottenham, will now be responsible for securing the shirt sponsorship deal for Chelsea.

Recently, the club announced that Klein would take the position of president of the commercial department, replacing the former revenue chief Kasper Stajlsvig.

Currently, Klein needs to find a sponsor, as Chelsea has not yet secured a deal with a company willing to pay around £60 million for shirt advertising.

This is already the second major change in the club's leadership over the year. In September 2024, executive director Chris Yurashek left the team after 15 months of work.

New changes in leadership

Former executive director Jason Gennon is now the club president and has taken on many responsibilities of the executive director.

Additionally, former executive director of Milan and Arsenal, Jamie Murray, has been appointed as the operational director, while former Manchester United employee Phil Lynch became the chief digital officer.

Murray, Lynch, and Klein will report to Gennon, who will remain in the role of president.

Klein's most important task is to find a shirt sponsor so that fans can purchase new replicas before Christmas.

Todd Klein joined Chelsea last November, concluding a lengthy tenure at Tottenham.

His experience reportedly includes a naming rights deal for the 'Hard Rock' stadium for the NFL team 'Miami Dolphins' in 2016, which became one of the largest sponsorship deals.

Pressure on Klein

Klein has experience in growing commercial revenues during his short stay at Tottenham but failed to secure a stadium naming deal.

While Chelsea hopes for success in finding a sponsor, it is essential that the deal aligns with the club's values, not just financial metrics. It's worth noting that 61.5% of the club's shares belong to the private equity firm Clearlake Capital.

Daily operations remain under Behdad Eghbali, who oversees many aspects of the club's business, including maximizing the value of the shirt sponsorship.

Debut of José Mourinho

If José Mourinho were not returning to Stamford Bridge as Benfica's coach next week, he would probably be there as a fan.

The house Mourinho bought in Belgravia during his first stint at Chelsea remains his family home, and the club's most successful coach plans to attend matches this season.

The club does not plan to commemorate the return of 'The Special One' at the Champions League match on Tuesday.

Mourinho has already returned to Stamford Bridge with Manchester United and Tottenham. However, everyone hopes that this time the situation will not repeat what happened during the Chelsea vs. United game in 2017, when a group of younger fans mocked Mourinho.

The story with Mudryk

Spanish publication Marca quickly published a sensational story that Mykhailo Mudryk is finishing his football career to become a sprinter.

According to reports, he allegedly aims to represent Ukraine at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

However, Marca's decision to remove the original source of the article confirms that the information was incorrect.

Unfortunately, the story made no sense, and Mudryk is still awaiting a decision regarding his doping case.

Atmosphere at Chelsea

Although Chelsea has won two trophies in a few months and returned to the Champions League, their image change may take more time.

Before the match between Chelsea and Bayern last week, TZ published an article on the club's evolution titled 'from laughingstock to respect'.

They did not hold back on the jokes about Chelsea's large squad, illustrating with a cartoon of a fifty-deck stacked with players.

Payet's talent

Outstanding Chelsea goalkeeper Kendri Payet scored his first goal for sister club Strasbourg.

Payet, 18, during a game against Paris FC repeated the celebration previously performed by Cole Palmer.

After celebrating his goal, he performed the 'João Pedro gesture', raising his right hand to his face.

Lavia's hopes

Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé inspires Romeo Lavia in his recovery from injuries.

Lavia is still not match-ready due to a number of injuries, but on his private Instagram page, he shared photos of Dembélé recovering at Barcelona.

The quote he added: “Everything that is meant for you will find you and will not require anything more than you already are.”

Unfortunately, Lavia has plenty of time to philosophize, as since moving from Southampton for £53 million, he has played just 23 matches for Chelsea.

However, coach Enzo Mareska confirmed that Lavia, along with teammate Benoît Badiashile, returned to team training this week, so we might see him back on the field soon.