After a series of talks with various clubs across the globe, Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s multi-club project started with French outfit RC Strasbourg Alsace being the first in what will be many clubs the group wants to purchase.
The American has been very vocal on his plan of acquiring multiple clubs across the globe so that “we can show pathways for our young superstars to get on to the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time”. The group has been busy with talks with clubs from countries like France, Belgium, Portugal and South America.
There were strong reports that a deal with Bordeaux is close but now they have chosen to go with Strasbourg as it makes more sense financially. The figures and what percentage the Americans will own in this club are unknown but talks with Strasbourg are going on smoothly and the final price will be determined by whether they manage to stay off relegation with the northern club currently looking safe with 38 points, five off from the 18th placed Nantes.
Lyon and Sochaux were also being looked at by the Blues but they were told that by these clubs they will have to settle for a partial stake in the club rather than a majority one. Strasbourg’s president, Marc Keller and Todd Boehly have talked over the past months and conditions are looking ideal for a full takeover. The LA Dodgers partial owner also held talks with Portuguese club Portimonense but stepped off their interest in Strasbourg.
Strasbourg currently has 11 stakeholders in the club with Marc Keller who was a former player for the club having the highest with 27% and has been the voice of any concerns with the rest of the shareholders. The French Football Federation is going to conduct an election for their next president and Marc Keller who has been with Strasbourg since 2012 intends to run for it and is the leading frontrunner as of now.
Tapping into the French market for Chelsea will be a significant step as some of the prestigious players like Kylian Mbappe, N’Golo Kante, Ousmane Dembele and many more all coming through the French league can attracted to Strasbourg and performing well their could mean a chance to play for Chelsea could be fast-tracked.
The multi-club ownership’s attraction for many club owners is growing year on year with everyone looking at the success enjoyed by teams like Manchester City, the Red Bull Group’s Leipzig and Salzburg and even Brighton’s current success built by Tony Bloom has had players transfer from England to Belgium outfit Union Saint-Gilloise with case in point being Kaoru Mitoma, who has been outstanding for Brighton this season, thrived on loan at Union SG last season.
The post Chelsea close to acquiring stake in French side RC Strasbourg first appeared on Premier League News Now. Source - premierleaguenewsnow.com