Interesting times are coming for Ligue 1 fans, as the company that owns Chelsea has agreed to buy a majority stake in one French top-flight club to increase their dominance in European football.
Earlier today, BlueCo (the consortium that purchased Chelsea) revealed that a deal had been reached between them and RC Strasbourg for over $75M. The deal will see majority stockholder Todd Boehly having shares for "almost 100%" of the team's stock.
Initial negotiations between Boehly and French clubs hinted that a deal could come between BlueCo. and Bordeaux, but since the club did not earn promotion to Ligue 1, a deal was reached with Strasbourg. Boehly admitted that, financially speaking, making a deal for Les Bleu et Blanc made more sense.
"It is an honor for us to be part of this historic club. We are committed to preserving the heritage of Racing and are focused on working closely with Marc (Keller, Strasbourg's president) and his management team to continue the excellent work they have been doing," the company revealed in a press release.
The idea, according to the document, is to give players out on loan who were purchased by Chelsea a chance to thrive in European football and, in a near future, join the English club once they have proven their worth.
Strasbourg's president and former player Marc Keller praised the move while hinting better times for the French side.
"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, and 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," Keller stated.
This move will see Strasbourg becoming the fifth French club to be owned by American companies. Racing will join a list that includes Olympique Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Le Havre.
