Chelsea owners buy Ligue 1 club Strasbourg

The American owners of English Premier League giants Chelsea on Thursday, June 22, sealed a deal to take control of French Ligue 1 outfit Strasbourg.

The deal is a major boost for the Premier League club’s owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who have been looking for suitable clubs to purchase since last summer.

The initial expectation had been that Chelsea owners would be forced to settle for a minority stake in Strasbourg, leaving them unable to exert full control over the French club. However, it is understood Chelsea will have close to 100% ownership.

The Ligue 1 outfit avoided relegation last season, prompting the Chelsea hierarchy to consider them for their global project.

Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have been keen to build such a model, similar to that of Manchester City, following their takeover last year.

The City Football Group owns 13 clubs around the world, allowing young players to be sent to satellite clubs on loan to gain experience.

Chelsea is now looking to start their own group of clubs, beginning with Strasbourg, although their fans are less than thrilled.

Strasbourg ultras have been pictured holding up a sign reading “Boehly, not welcome” after news broke of the investment.

The agreement will also see BlueCo invest in Strasbourg’s first teams and academy while Marc Keller remains the club’s president having been at the helm since 2012 when the club was at risk of being liquidated.

Commenting on the recent acquisition, Keller said;

“This is an important day for Racing [Club de Strasbourg]. It’s something my shareholder friends and I have been thinking about for the past two years,

“We’ve built a club that’s healthy at every level and well managed. Although there was no financial urgency, we were aware that we had reached the ceiling of our model.

“If we wanted to continue driving Racing forward and projecting it into a new dimension, we necessarily needed to be accompanied by a solid structure capable of supporting our development and our ambition.”

Reports in France have claimed Chelsea are paying €75m (£65m) for their share.  The Chelsea owners are also expected to buy shares in a Portuguese club and more teams could be incorporated into the Stamford Bridge outfit’s grand plans.