Strasbourg president shares conversation with Boehly & Eghbali about Chelsea plans | OneFootball

RC Strasbourg president Marc Keller said they are likely to send one player who is "good enough" to join Chelsea per year, as he explained the relationship between the two clubs.

Strasbourg announced the agreement, which confirmed that BlueCo, the consortium that also owns Chelsea, became the new shareholders of the club in June 2023.

Strasbourg have since improved their standing in French football, having finished seventh last season, and subsequently qualified for the Conference League, and are currently sitting fifth in Ligue 1.

Keller, however, reiterated that the takeover has not turned Strasbourg into Chelsea B.

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"I don't think we are a feeder club, because a feeder club (would be) sending three, four, five, six players to Chelsea every season," Keller told BBC Sport.

"I think it's more... like a younger brother relationship, as we say in France, but you say sister club in England. We help each other.

"Discussions with Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly have been about how to create a smart multi-club model from the beginning, while using more financial power."

Of course, both clubs are taking advantage of the multi-club ownership model, with Chelsea already sending several young talents to develop at the French club.

In addition to that, Chelsea would also be able to bring anyone they deem good enough to bolster their squad in the Premier League.

Emmanuel Emegha, who has signed for Chelsea and will move to West London next summer, is an example. Mamadou Sarr, who is currently back at Strasbourg on a season-long loan, is another.

According to Keller, however, Chelsea would not be the only clubs interested in the talents they develop.

"We try to work well with the technical team of Chelsea to have good players for Strasbourg," he explained.

"Strasbourg and France is a good step for the young players to develop, and this BlueCo project is about building quality.

"We are investing a lot in a young generation. It can happen that one player per year is good enough for Chelsea. But our project is to have other players around top clubs in Europe, not just Chelsea.

"It's not correct to say they are coming to go to Chelsea.

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

In the summer, Strasbourg generated £74m through player sales, including Dilane Bakwa and Habib Diarra to Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, respectively.