TheCable

Chelsea have secured the second-largest shirt sponsorship deal in English football history after announcing their largest ever commercial deal with Yokohama Rubber, which is reportedly worth £40m a year.

The sponsorship deal dwarfed the previous £18m agreement the club had with Samsung and is second only to the £53m-a-year deal Manchester United secured with Chevrolet.

The five-year deal with the Japanese firm would commence from the 2015-16 season and the company’s logo will appear on all the Blues’ shirts from the first team to their youth teams.

The agreement was concluded after talks in London between Yokohama chairman Tadanobu Nagumo and his Chelsea’s counterpart Bruce Buck, before photo sessions with manager Jose Mourinho and captain John Terry.

Blues chief Buck said both parties are a perfect fit.

“Both are global organisations with a focus on performance and innovation, as well as having huge ambition and an unwavering culture of success,” he said.

“We believe that Yokohama will play a key role in helping us drive our global expansion in international markets, such as the United States, where they have operated with distinction for many years.

“Also, of course, Chelsea having such an esteemed and historic Japanese company as our partner enables us to accelerate our development in their home market too.

”We are also looking forward to working with Yokohama on our community projects around the world through the Chelsea Foundation, when together we can use the power of sport as a force for good.”

Yokahama boss Nagumo said the shirt partnership with Chelsea “will give Yokohama an opportunity to showcase our company to a huge worldwide audience thanks to Chelsea’s ever-growing popularity”.