Chelsea agree image rights deal for England star Terry

Chelsea Football Club has finalised a deal for club captain John Terry to become the face of Malaysian mobile telecoms provider Celcom. The club, through its image rights division, is the only Premier League side working on image rights for its players outside of its sponsorship partners.

Last month Chelsea agreed a similar deal for their midfield star Michael Essien to represent Diageo Africa’s Guinness brand.

Andy Dart, head of image rights at Chelsea, says the club is in “constant contact” with brand decision-makers from global businesses in order to strike sponsorship partnerships.

Dart formerly worked at sports management agency SFX where he was responsible for the image rights of players, including David Beckham and Michael Owen.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are the only other football clubs in the world to broker third-party image rights for their players.