As reported by SportsPro earlier in the week, Chelsea have extended their shirt sponsorship agreement with electronics giant Samsung for another three years.

Though the deal does not come close to Manchester United's deal with Aon, which earns the Premier League champions more than US$30 million per season, it is an improvement on the current US$18 million deal. Widespread reports last month indicated that Chelsea were prepared to break off talks with Samsung because of the electronics giant's reluctance to up its payments.

However, there was no sign of discord in the press conference to unveil the partnership, with the two parties keen to stress the happy nature of their relationship.

"Our relationship is far more meaningful than a conventional sports sponsorship arrangement," said Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. "While this renewal represents excellent value for Chelsea it is more than that - it is a true partnership between two organisations who are both highly successful on the global stage and whose strengths and ambitions complement each other perfectly. The renewal of our partnership is a significant step forward on the original deal, and we are pleased to deliver additional rights for Samsung to use in key areas of their business. We very much welcome the continued partnership and anticipate mutual success from the deepening and broadening of our relationship. More generally it reaffirms Chelsea's position in the business and sponsorship market as one of the market leaders in football and demonstrates that investment at this time is key to growth."

SH Shin, chief executive of Samsung Electronics Europe, said: "Our partnership with Chelsea is already highly effective for both parties; it has raised our premium brand awareness, which has in turn helped significantly increase our sales and market share in key areas of our business - especially in the UK where our turnover has more than doubled in the last five years and we have become increasingly recognised as a premium brand."

The new partnership is believed to be worth at least US$60 million to Chelsea over the next three years.