Strasbourg star HITS OUT at Chelsea owners over BlueCo project

Tom Weber

Updated: 17 May 2024 13:10 BST
4 min read

Behdad Eghbali, Todd Boehly, Strasbourg, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Strasbourg star Lucas Perrin has hit out at BlueCo over their treatment of the Ligue 1 club.

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Chelsea's owners Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and company acquired the Alsatian club last year, but the first season under BlueCo has been anything but a success for Strasbourg.

After radically making their squad younger in the summer transfer window, the Ligue 1 side have struggled to be anything more than a lower mid-table team. Though the threat of relegation at times loomed, it never looked like Strasbourg were ever in real danger of going down.

Nevertheless, this season has not been good enough by the standards of an ambitious regional powerhouse. BlueCo's ownership of the club has come under heavy fire from supporters and Strasbourg are just one of several French clubs at risk of being run into the ground by Premier League-led multi-club networks.

In late April, Strasbourg star Thomas Delaine admitted to being frustrated with the first season under BlueCo's reign and his teammate Lucas Perrin has now taken the criticism to another level.

'A miracle we stayed up'

The 25-year-old is facing an uncertain future at the club and has just a year left to run on his current deal. Frustrated over not having been offered fresh terms, the Frenchman aired his grievances in an interview with France Bleu Alsace.

“I am happy here, but there...must be a sporting project. You can’t hide it, it’s almost a miracle we stayed up. We’re asking 18 and 19-year-olds – and I have nothing against them – but we’re asking these young players to assume the responsibilities of 30-year-old guys,” Perrin thundered.

"I'm talking in the sense that there is supposedly a project, a sporting project, but today, we don't know where it's going. I don’t know what I’ll do next year. We don’t know what the sporting project will be next year. I’ve just had my best season. What makes me, not sad, but a bit annoyed, is the club’s lack of consideration."

© IMAGO - Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali

"When I arrived, I was a bit unknown because I hadn’t played lots of matches but now, I’ve played many matches and to have such a lack of consideration is a bit frustrating. Do I not expect a renewal? No, not at all but hey, it’s the BlueCo project. We’re waiting."

"Asked whether he had met any BlueCo chiefs, Perrin responded: "I think there was one who passed through the locker room in December. Personally, I don't know who it was. I was told he was a Chelsea guy. I've seen them once or twice, max."

"I don't know how to explain this honestly, but there was a lot missing this year for us to be able to achieve the objectives that were set at the start of the season. We were told to get into the top 10 and in the end, we are very, very far from it. It was the president [Marc Keller] who made the speech for his project."

"But we always come back to the same thing. You can't ask 18-year-old guys to do things that 25-year-old guys do, that's not possible. Even if I am fully behind them."