Strasbourg Not Chelsea 'feeder Club' But 'younger Brother' - Club President

Strasbourg are becoming a unit successful French and European football, but their links pinch Chelsea proceed to anger a vocal number of fans.

Sitting 5th successful Ligue 1 - having vanished seventh past play to suffice for Europe for nan first clip successful six years - they are among nan starring teams successful nan Conference League this season.

They adjacent big title favourites Crystal Palace astatine their redeveloped Stade de la Meinau connected Thursday (20:00 GMT).

However, Strasbourg - bought by BlueCo ownership nether Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital for £65m - are yet to triumph complete immoderate of their hardcore ultras, who picture them arsenic Chelsea's "feeder club". It is simply a declare nine president Marc Keller denies.

Several deals betwixt Chelsea and Strasbourg person raised eyebrows this year, including:

Strasbourg's ultras - 4 protagonist groups pinch a mixed rank of 1,539 - judge nan multi-club exemplary compromises accepted nine values.

Keller antecedently said nan ultras had "crossed nan line" by targeting skipper and prima striker Emanuel Emegha pinch a banner describing him a "BlueCo's pawn" during a lucifer pinch Le Havre earlier successful nan season.

That followed nan announcement that Emegha would subordinate Chelsea successful July 2026.

Another instrumentality group criticised Keller - a erstwhile France world and nine fable - but nan mostly stay down him.

"I cognize a number of group are still asking immoderate questions astir nan multi-club model," he told BBC Sport. "Of course, we proceed dialogue, and I deliberation that nan champion answer, arsenic I utilized to beryllium a footballer, is connected nan pitch.

"I don't deliberation we are a feeder club, because a feeder nine we are sending three, four, five, six players to Chelsea each season.

"I deliberation it's more... for illustration a younger relative relationship, arsenic we opportunity successful France, but you opportunity sister nine successful England. We thief each other."

Keller, who led nan consortium that bought Strasbourg for 1 euro successful 2012, has helped revive a nine that were playing successful nan amateur 4th tier aft financial collapse.

They returned to nan Ligue 1 wrong 5 years, and are now competing connected nan European shape - 2 years aft entering into nan business pinch Chelsea.

"Discussions pinch Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly person been astir really to create a smart multi-club exemplary from nan beginning, while utilizing much financial power," said Keller.

"We improved each twelvemonth and were successful a beardown financial position earlier nan takeover, but pinch caller partners we tin dream a small bigger and deliberation astir getting into nan apical six aliases 7 to suffice for Europe each year."

At nan Stade de la Meinau, BlueCo's finance is evident, pinch cranes finishing nan stadium's description from 26,000 to 32,000 seats - nan last touches of a £157m redevelopment.

Walking astir nan modernised stadium, location is unthinkable attraction to detail, including monuments to each antheral and female subordinate to deterioration nan bluish jersey.

"The bully equilibrium is ambition but pinch tradition," Keller said.

"We are investing a batch to group up an organisation astir nan squad to thief nan players spell higher. That's successful staff, data, physio, subordinate attraction and scouting networks."

Sporting head David Weir was hired past month, aft leaving Brighton.

But, conscionable arsenic astatine Chelsea, Strasbourg's squad had already been transformed by BlueCo - pinch £112m spent connected building nan youngest squad - averaging conscionable 21.5 years of property - successful nan large 5 leagues. Chelsea are 4th - down their partner club, positive Paris St-Germain and Parma.

Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos was nan first to use from a move betwixt nan clubs - spending 18 months connected indebtedness astatine Strasbourg - and says he still watches their matches and texts head Liam Rosenior.

"We effort to activity good pinch nan method squad of Chelsea to person bully players for Strasbourg," says Keller. "It would person been intolerable for america to person Mike Penders, Andrey Santos aliases Petrovic successful nan past, truthful that's positive.

"Strasbourg and France is simply a bully measurement for nan young players to develop, and this BlueCo task is astir building quality.

"We are investing a batch successful a young generation. It tin hap that 1 subordinate per twelvemonth is bully capable for Chelsea. But our task is to person different players astir apical clubs successful Europe, not conscionable Chelsea. It's not correct to opportunity they are coming to spell to Chelsea.

"They are coming to Strasbourg because of nan ambition."

Strasbourg sold £74m of players successful nan summertime summer - including Dilane Bakwa to Nottingham Forest and erstwhile skipper Habib Diarra to Sunderland, some for astir £30m.

The measurement Strasbourg play nether Rosenior is exciting, and Chilwell believes nan erstwhile Hull City head will spell "right to nan top".

Rosenior is highly regarded astatine BlueCo. Though he is improving his French, he continues to present nan mostly of his squad talks and news conferences successful English.

His estimation of processing players, his style of play and his dressing-room guidance led to him being linked pinch aggregate clubs complete nan summer, including Bayer Leverksuen.

"Liam is playing apical shot and we are playing pinch a young team, truthful they person abstraction to play," said Keller.

"BlueCo knew him from England and erstwhile I met him he was clear astir what he wanted to group up successful Strasbourg - and what he said is precisely what is happening now."

Multi-club ownership (MCO) tin beryllium traced backmost to nan 1990s, but City Football Group (CFG) - featuring Manchester City and 13 clubs crossed nan world - popularised nan conception successful English football.

Almost half of nan 20 Premier League clubs are now successful MCOs - Manchester United, Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Aston Villa, Burnley, Leeds United and Bournemouth. Crystal Palace were earlier Woody Johnson bought retired John Textor successful nan summer.

"It's a world trend," said Keller. "Today, 48% aliases 49% of nan clubs successful nan apical 5 leagues successful Europe are nether MCO. Every MCO is different. We are trying to group up a smart organisation that useful intimately and positively, and wrong regulations from Uefa and Fifa."

Those regulations tin beryllium limiting.

At nan extremity of past season, Chelsea and Strasbourg could person ended up successful nan aforesaid European title - which forced BlueCo to group up a 'blind trust' to temporarily dilute its power complete nan French club.

Brighton proprietor Tony Bloom did that pinch Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gilloise, while Nottingham Forest proprietor Evangelos Marinakis diluted his power past play erstwhile they could person ended up successful nan aforesaid title arsenic Olympiacos.

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe moved his 2 different Ineos-owned clubs - Nice and Lausanne-Sport - into this structure, and City Football Group put Girona into a unsighted spot successful 2024.

If Strasbourg and Chelsea were to extremity up successful nan aforesaid title successful future, they could beryllium barred from loaning players to each different for 3 transportation windows. That regularisation was placed connected Manchester United/Nice and Manchester City/Girona successful 2024.