Are Chelsea and Strasbourg deals bad for football?

Chelsea and Strasbourg come together under Todd Boehly’s BlueCo Group and Clearlake Capital in 2023.

For the first two years Strasburg got the best of the deal.

Six players left Chelsea for the French club, five of them on loan and one permanently.

Strasbourg was able to spend money they could never have dreamed of.

In the three years prior to BlueCo, Strasbourg’s total transfer fees paid per season were £6.1m, £3.9m and £9.5m.

In the next three seasons, Strasbourg spent £52.6m, £53.6m and £96.5m. They were the biggest spending club in France last summer, ahead of even Paris Saint-Germain (£89.2m).

These additional resources helped Strasbourg compete for a place in the Champions League last season.

But last summer, the way the two clubs interacted began to change. The pendulum will swing towards a dominant MCO partner in Chelsea.

Take centre-back Mamadou Sarr, who in June joined Chelsea from Strasbourg on a permanent deal.

The 20-year-old made just one appearance for Chelsea as a substitute in the Club World Cup.

In August he returned to Strasbourg on loan. On Monday he was recalled by Chelsea.

BlueCo would argue that this is a key part of player development, as Sarr will get regular football at Strasbourg and return to Stamford Bridge a better player.

Then there is the case of Ishi Samuels-Smith.

The left-back moved from Chelsea to Strasbourg last July. He was then re-signed by Chelsea in September – and was immediately loaned out to Swansea City.

In the world of multiple club ownership there is a logic to this.

With Ben Chilwell not part of Enzo Maresca’s plans, the full-back was sent to Strasbourg on a free transfer. The Ligue 1 club also resolved a contract dispute with another defender, Ismail Doucoure.

I left Samuel Smith as a spare in Alsace.

Rather than let the 19-year-old struggle for first-team football, Chelsea effectively clawed back the £6.5m transfer fee and sent him to the Championship club.

It has already been confirmed that club captain Emmanuel Emega is next on the conveyor belt to Stamford Bridge.

The 20-year-old striker, one of BlueCo’s first signings in Strasbourg, will join Chelsea at the end of the season.

The club’s ultras – who have long criticized the association with BlueCo – demanded that the captain’s armband be returned.

Outsiders see players (and the head coach) jumping from club to club at Chelsea’s behest.

Take Aaron Anselmino. The centre-back spent the first half of the season on loan from Chelsea to Borussia Dortmund.

However, when Chelsea wanted to include Sarr in their first team, Anselmino was recalled from the Bundesliga club and sent to fill the void in Strasbourg’s squad.

Anselmino was reportedly crying when he left Dortmund.

Chelsea were changing the chess pieces to suit their own strategy.

However, calling up players on loan from one club to send them to another club should not be seen as something peculiar to the multi-club ownership structure.

For example, last month Manchester United brought back Harry Abmas from his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and sent him to Norwich City instead.