Strasbourg owner Marc Keller visited Chelsea’s Cobham training ground on Friday, following rumours that there are discussions about bringing the Alsatian side into Todd Boehly’s planned “multi club” model.
The news was confirmed today by Ben Jacobs, the CBS journalist with known good sources on Chelsea’s board.
Keller owns the largest single share of the French club – 27% – and has had several offers for his stake. It seems probably that buying Keller’s stake would be followed by attempts to buy up further parts of the club other stakeholders.
Strasbourg is a concrete opinion for Chelsea, and it is true that the Ligue 1 club’s president Marc Keller visited Cobham on Friday. But nothing is done yet and there are other suitors. Understand that Keller has contracted Lazard to facilitate a sale. pic.twitter.com/R9TCbWrg6u
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) May 28, 2023
French side Strasbourg have to far resisted attempts at a full takeover by several parties including Chelsea owner Todd Boehly, but are open to a selling part of their ownership. Keller will need to sell his shares if he wants to take up the French Football Federation’s presidency.
His thread concludes with the claim that Chelsea will begin their multi club model at the end of this year, indicating a potential long wait before any actual ownership changes are made.
Strasbourg have managed to seal their place in Ligue 1 for another year and are starting stadium renovation works. While many owners will want to keep their share of the cake, others will see the appeal of major outside investment to propel the club to the next level in a league where Marseille and Lyon struggle to match PSG.
