Chelsea commercial director Chris Townsend has revealed his plans to double the club's revenue to over £650million - and is eyeing an Arsenal style stadium/shirt dual sponsorship deal.
Townsend, appointed earlier this year, is looking to keep pace with the club's higher-earning rivals as the Blues eye a push to become one of European football's 'super powers'.
Chelsea's revenue in the last financial year (2015-16 season) stood at £334.6million according to Deloitte, with £163.1million coming via commercial deals.
That figure was dwarfed by Manchester United, who earned revenues of £515.3million - with £272.1million coming from commercial tie-ins.
United have in excess of 50 sponsors, while Chelsea have just 12. However, the Blues do boast some of the Premier League's biggest-grossing deals, including its 15 year, £900m deal with Nike and the £50million yearly figure they're paid by shirt sponsor Yokohama tyres.
Now Townsend plans on increasing the number of Blues' sponsors up to around 30, with a focus on premium brands.
“Manchester United, Manchester City and others have anywhere between 50 and 70 [sponsors],” said Mr Townsend, speaking to the Financial Times.
“We plan to focus on more premium brands in a far more limited range of categories."
Townsend adds that he wants Chelsea, "to be a top four or five club in Europe [by revenues], rather than ranked eighth" in the next 7-10 years.
The Blues' main shirt deal with Yokohama Rubber runs until 2020, while Chelsea also make £10m a year from Carabao sponsoring their training kit.
Plans are in place for a new stadium, but dates are yet to be confirmed.
And Townsend said that a new stadium could help drive new deals, such as tying shirt sponsorship with naming rights for the ground - in the same manner as Arsenal and Emirates.
Such 'dual' deals are proving increasingly popular with sponsors - Allianz are one such global leader, having increased their brand recognition across the globe considerably, having built/sponsored flagship stadiums while simultaneously sponsoring/working with teams such as Bayern Munich, Juventus and rugby side Saracens.