Chelsea are set to end their search for a front-of-shirt sponsor – by signing a lucrative deal with a digital currency outfit.Daily Mail Sport understands that the Stamford Bridge club are close to agreeing a partnership with US-based Circle Internet Group.The deal is likely to be for an initial year, with the option to extend should both parties be happy to do so.It would see the company’s USDC (US Dollar Coin) logo on the front of the club’s shirts in a yellow font, to match this season’s style.While the numbers involved are likely to be kept private, Chelsea officials had reportedly been looking for a deal worth around £50m a season. It can also be disclosed that they are close to striking a sleeve sponsorship agreement – and that club insiders are confident that they will be ahead of budget across all areas of sponsorship this season.The proposed deal with Circle would see USDC on the front of the men’s, women’s and academy shirts across all competitions. Chelsea have found a main front-of-shirt sponsor for the first time since 2022-23: Circle Internet Group Their previous major front-of-shirt sponsor was Three, but that deal expired in 2022-23 The club have secured temporary deals with clubs midway through each season since thenChelsea have been keen to ensure they partnered with a company they club could align with and believe they have managed to do so. Circle has been viewed as a major success story in the expanding world of fintech, with its supply expanding by around $2bn in the past week, according to analysts.It is viewed as a financial infrastructure, or platform, that speeds up the process of moving money across borders online. USDC is a regulated, dollar-backed currency known as stable coin, with the value rising and falling in line with American currency.Last year, Formula One’s Aston Martin struck a multi-year sponsorship with Coinbase which was paid for entirely with USDC.Should the deal, as expected, be confirmed, the intention is for the logo to be on Chelsea’s shirts when they take on Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.The club has started the last three consecutive seasons with a blank space on the middle of its jerseys, since their deal with mobile network Three was brought to a conclusion at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Deals have subsequently been penned mid-campaign.Three suspended its deal, thought to be worth £40m a season, following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine which led to the forced sale of the west London club by former owner Roman Abramovich.The agreement with Circle would come as a further boost to the club who started the season with a 3-2 win at neighbours Fulham under new manager Xabi Alonso.