The owners of Chelsea have ‘reached an agreement’ to buy Ligue 1 club Strasbourg so Todd Boehly’s “multi-club model” plans are taking shape.
Boehly’s consortium completed their takeover of Chelsea ahead of the 2022/23 campaign and they spent around £600m on signings during their first year at the club.
The American businessman has big plans for Chelsea and it was first reported a couple of months ago that he ‘intensified talks’ to buy a stake in Strasbourg.
The Athletic are now reporting that ‘Chelsea’s owners have reached an agreement to become the new shareholders of Ligue 1 side Strasbourg’.
The club’s president Marc Keller will remain in this role and he thinks the arrival of Chelsea‘s owners will help them to become “more ambitious”.
Keller said: “The aim is to enable Racing (Strasbourg) to be even more ambitious and competitive in a football world that has changed considerably, particularly with the massive arrival of foreign investors in many French clubs and the evolution of Ligue 1 from 20 to 18 clubs.”
BlueCo (Boehly’s consortium) added: “It is an honour for us to be part of this historic club. We are committed to preserving the heritage of Racing (Strasbourg) and are focused on working closely with Marc and his management team to continue the excellent work they have been doing.
“This strategic investment would further our presence in European football, alongside our ownership of Chelsea. We believe it would create huge opportunities to share knowledge and expertise.”
READ MORE: Man Utd shouldn’t give Chelsea the excuse they need to sell Mason Mount
Speaking towards the end of 2022, Boehly spoke passionately about his plan for a “multi-club model” involving Chelsea.
“We’ve talked about a multi-club model, and I would love to build out the footprint,” Boehly said.
“I think there are different countries where there are advantages to having a club. Red Bull does a really good job, they’ve got Leipzig and they have Salzburg — both of which are playing in the Champions League. They’ve figured out how to make that work.
“You have Man City, which has a big network of clubs. The challenge that Chelsea has right now is that when you have 18 to 20 year-old superstars, you can loan them out to other clubs but you put their development in someone else’s hands.
“Our goal is to make sure we can develop pathways for our Chelsea superstars to get onto the pitch while getting game-time. For me, the way to do that is to get another club in a very competitive league, maybe somewhere in Europe.”
READ MORE: Carragher, Neville’s naive demands over Chelsea and ‘game-changer’ Silva sum up Saudi problem
