The first title will be published in October, although plans are in place for a further three.

The contract covers the publishing of all the club's official books for the next two years and printing will be arranged on a per title basis.

"It wasn't a formal tender as such," said a Sport Media spokesman. "Both Christopher Little [the literary agent]  and Chelsea FC were impressed with our back catalogue and future ideas."

James White, business development manager at Sport Media, said: "We are delighted to be working with a club of Chelsea's stature and hope this will be the start of a long and succesful partnership.

"Chelsea have a large and loyal fanbase and we look forward to producing a series of fantastic books for them."