Chelsea hold multi-club model talks with RC Strasbourg — report

Chelsea’s intentions to start a multi-club footballing empire have taken a slight backseat to actual footballing matters during these first many months of the Boehly-Clearlake ownership. But some talks may be going on in the background now, with L’Equipe reporting yesterday that Todd Boehly and RC Strasbourg (RCSA) president Marc Keller spoke recently and “had a meal”.

There’s no word on if it was a great meal, so we can only guess how well the talks might have gone. I’ve been to Strasbourg once, and had some absolutely fantastic flatbread (“Flàmmeküeche”) — this was nearly 20 years ago but I still remember it, that’s how good it was.

Anyway...

RCSA are actively looking for investors to secure the club’s financial future. Their previous incarnation were liquidated in 2011 and the one-time Ligue 1 champions, once the home of Franck Lebouef and Youri Djorkaeff, only returned to professional football in 2016. Chelsea are among several interested suitors, and we’re apparently looking to make a 100 per cent investment — i.e. buy the whole club.

Having just recently switched managers, RCSA sit two points above the relegation zone in the French top flight.

The report adds that once Strasbourg are in the bag, we would be looking towards a foothold in the German pyramid, which isn’t surprising given our admiration for the Red Bull model.

Dávid Pásztor