Chelsea sign new deal with Samsung
 |  Abramovich has seen his club surge towards the league title |
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LONDON, England -- English Premier League leaders Chelsea signed a five-year sponsorship deal with South Korean electronics firm Samsung on Monday.
The deal makes Samsung the London club's official sponsor and is the company's second biggest partnership deal after its sponsorship of the Olympic Games.
Samsung will take over as Chelsea's sponsors from Emirates Airlines, whose contract expires at the end of this season.
"Samsung Electronics has a key part to play in the future global development of Chelsea and we believe we can play a similar role for it in its strategic aims," Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon told a news conference.
No financial details of the Chelsea deal were available but media reports put its worth at 50 million pounds ($95.75 million).
Chelsea, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and poised to win their first league title for 50 years, had been looking for a worldwide consumer brand with strong links to the growing Asian market, Kenyon said.
Emirates are switching to last season's champions Arsenal, who will name their new ground Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have a complex eight-year deal with Emirates. It is worth a potential 100 million pounds and includes the naming of Arsenal's ground in north London, due to open in 2006, and a shirt deal.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will trim his current squad before rebuilding in the summer.
Mourinho will be given funds to strengthen his squad plans to keep to a 24-man roster.
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said the club would be "very careful" about where their money was spent.
"You have seen the transfer spend go down just in one year and you will see it keep going down," said Buck.
"You will see several players come in the summer but also several go out."
Midfielder Scott Parker and defender Robert Huth have been linked with moves after frequently finding themselves out of favor during a season which will be crowned by the Premiership title.
