Strasbourg supporters have slammed Todd Boehly and mocked him for his work at Chelsea just months after he completed his takeover of the Ligue 1 club.
Boehly’s BlueCo consortium – who own Chelsea – purchased Strasbourg back in June, with the American having previously outlined his desire to develop a multi-club model.
When their purchase was confirmed, Chelsea refused to comment on the size of the stake but reports in France claimed the Blues’ owners had bought the entire club at a cost of around £65m, with a promise to invest in the first team and academy.
However, despite appointing Patrick Vieira as boss and spending almost £50m in the transfer market over the summer, things haven’t gone to plan, with Strasbourg sitting 11th in Ligue 1 and having won just one of their past five games.
And Strasbourg’s supporters – who also protested after Boehly’s takeover was confirmed – lambasted BlueCo’s early work in a letter to club president Marc Keller with complaints that may be familiar to Chelsea fans.
Strasbourg supporters have slammed Todd Boehly just months after he purchased the club
Boehly’s BlueCo consortium completed their takeover of the Ligue 1 outfit back in June
‘Following BlueCo’s purchase, the 2023 summer transfer window is our first element of analysis and our first major worry,’ the letter from fan group The Fédération Supporters RCS read.
‘The exclusive recruitment of very young players – not yet operational and potentially weakened by their over-exposition, combined with the absence of arrivals of more mature players, exposes the club to a sporting risk from which the owners should have better protected us.
‘BlueCo’s imposition of an obligation to buy only very young hopefuls is senseless on a sporting level and the fans don’t relate to their team at the moment.
‘The supporters that maintained that, since the purchase of Racing, we are only a training centre and a secondary piece in a global business, have gained credit following this transfer window, which seems far from the announced ambition.’
In fact, it is important to note that both Chelsea and Strasbourg feature in the top 10 youngest teams in Europe’s top five leagues this season when measuring the average age of players used.
Meanwhile, during last Friday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Nantes, murmurings of discontent could also be heard among Strasbourg supporters.
And the anger of those fans…