Chelsea kickstart multi-club model with deal to purchase French club Strasbourg
helsea’s owners have bought French club Strasbourg as they set out on their plans to create a multi-club model.
The likes of Manchester City and Red Bull have pioneered the concept of owning multiple teams around the globe and Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has been vocal in his plans to build a similar set-up for the Blues.
French sides Lyon, Sochaux and Bordeaux were also targeted before Standard Sport reported of talks with Strasbourg in May.
Le Racing have just finished 15th in Ligue 1 and reports suggest a deal by the Chelsea owners’ consortium, BlueCo, to purchase the team cost in the region of £64million.
Marc Keller, Strasbourg’s club president since 2012, will remain in place as a result of the takeover which he said was accepted after taking the club as far as he can.
“This is an important day for Racing,” said Keller. “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.”
Clubs in Belgium, Brazil and Portugal are also on Chelsea’s radar as they look to grow their global model.
“BlueCo plans to make an active contribution to the development of the model implemented by Marc Keller,” it said.
“First, financially, by providing capital that will enable investment in the men’s and women’s first teams, the academy and across the club.”
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