⚽️ Chelsea Gets League Approval For a New Kit Deal

Good morning. In today’s send you’ll learn that even struggling Premier League teams can sell space on their uniforms for ungodly amounts of money. We will also touch on the darker side of a player signing with a team that maybe never needed him to begin with, which happens in the Premier League more often than you might realize.

In the email today:

It’s been a bit weird watching Chelsea play this season. Not just because they low key suck. There’s been something missing so far. That something is a logo — any logo — on their jerseys. It appears that this issue is about to be resolved.

• Chelsea is on the verge of receiving approval from the Premier League for Infinite Athlete to become their new shirt sponsor, with the deal worth around £40 million per year.

• The club has been without a shirt sponsor since its deal with Three ended this year and has been actively seeking a new sponsor.

• The search for a new sponsor was led by Chelsea's new chief executive, Chris Jurasek. Previous potential deals with Stake.com and Paramount Plus did not materialize.

• Infinite Athlete emerged as the leading candidate in August, and the partnership comes after a previous seven-year partnership with Tempus Ex Machina, a company involved in its formation.

• The deal provides much-needed financial relief to Chelsea's owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who have faced challenges both on and off the pitch since their takeover of the club last year.

• The debut of the Infinite Athlete logo on Chelsea's shirt may not happen in the Carabao Cup tie against Brighton but could be unveiled in the league game against Fulham next Monday. It will also feature on the women's team's shirts.

Our take: This feels like one of those situations where Chelsea was too clever by half. They didn’t need to play without a sponsor for so long — the club has plenty of money — but still they held out for “their price.” Anyway, Chelsea’s nightmare is over, and all is right with their world. Except for the part where they still low key suck.

2) 💷 Can You Really Feel Sorry For a Multi-Millionaire? Maybe.

Few if anyone reading this newsletter will ever know the feeling of being among the best in the world at what they dob yet still being considered a failure or a disappointment. The stakes at most 9-to-5 jobs are pretty low. Up on the high wire of Premier League soccer, though, the stakes are beyond comprehension, and sometimes being great isn’t enough. This is where Kalvin Phillips, a seriously expensive Manchester City signing, finds himself.

• Phillips, who joined Manchester City from Leeds United last summer for £45 million, has struggled to adapt to life at the club under Pep Guardiola.

• Phillips had limited game time and started only twice in 12 appearances across all competitions in the 2022/23 season.

• There were reports suggesting that Phillips might leave City in search of regular playing time, but he expressed his desire to stay and compete for a place in the team.

• With Rodri suspended for three games due to a red card, Phillips is in line to make his first start of the season for City in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle United.

• Guardiola acknowledged that Phillips had thrived under Marcelo Bielsa's system at Leeds United, which was well-suited to his style of play.

• Guardiola expressed his admiration for Bielsa's influence on Phillips and mentioned that Phillips struggled with City's specific style of play compared to what he was accustomed to at Leeds.

Our take: It’s probably hyperbole to say that Phillips has one and only one chance to show Guardiola that he can thrive in the City system while Rodri serves his suspension. Certainly, Phillips cannot reasonably hope to make anyone forget about Rodri, who is one of the preeminent midfielders in the world. As always, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Phillips needs to play very well in these next two weeks just to confirm that bringing him to City wasn’t an expensive mistake.

3) ❌ of the Day: Stop, Stop, He’s Already Dead!

Hopefully the Infinite Athlete logo on the kit will fix everything.

4) 🗳️ Do You Want Your Favorite EPL Team to Make a Deep Run in the League Cup?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 📊 Lists are fun, so here’s a list ranking the Premier League’s managers from not to hot.

• 🔵 Chelsea is in struggle mode, but that doesn’t mean Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t like seeing the club’s owners getting up close and personal with his players.

• ⬇️ Kalvin Phillips isn’t the only wildly expensive player glued to his team’s bench.

• ❓️ If they didn’t, like, actually keep score, predictive models would have some teams faring far better than the table says.

• 💰️ The gap between Premier League teams and those in the lower leagues is widening, some are saying.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading! ⚽️