French connection: Three GEMS Chelsea could poach from Strasbourg

Stuart Telford

• 22 Jun 2023 16:44 CDT
• 4 min read

Todd Boehly and Chelsea have reportedly concluded a deal to buy a stake in Ligue 1 club Strasbourg, and there are a handful of players that could soon find their way to Stamford Bridge.

American billionaire Boehly has long since floated the idea of having a "multi-club model," and a partial stake in Strasbourg, first reported by The Guardian in March, has been completed according to the article's co-author, Romain Molina.

"It's done," the Andalucia-based contributor tweeted on Thursday in response to Ed Aarons' - the other half responsible of the original piece - post about the deal.

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The move could see a number of Chelsea youngsters refine their craft at Strasbourg, but there could be others making the move in the opposite direction. FootballTransfers looks at three of the most likely…

Ismael Doukoure

France under-21 star Ismael Doukoure is surely at the top of this list. The 19-year-old made 25 starts for Strasbourg in Ligue 1 last season and has already represented his country at Olympic level.

An underlapping centre-back who can also play right-back and in defensive midfield, Doukoure contributed a goal and an assist last term and had more successful take-ons per 90 minutes (1.14) than any other defender in Europe's five major leagues.

According to FootballTransfers' official partner SciSports, Doukoure has a maximum SciSkill - or future rating - of 103.6, which puts him above Andrey Santos by the same measure. Arsenal and Monaco have been linked with a move, but Chelsea are surely now favourites.

READ: Ismael Doukoure's FootballTransfers profile

Habib Diarra

— Gilles :flag-ng::flag-england: (@_Grimanditweets) June 22, 2023

Doukoure wasn't the only teenager who was a first-team regular with Strasbourg last season, with Habib Diarra also impressing with the Alsatian side, despite their 15th-place finish.

Diarra tended to anchor Strasbourg's midfield across his 29 appearances, 18 of them starts, although his three goals and two assists were testament to his attacking instincts from deep.

Diarra is a France youth international teammate of Doukoure's, and his potential is only marginally less according to SciSports at 103.4. Aston Villa and Marseille reportedly want him, but again, Chelsea have secured a key advantage.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde

— Sébastien (@SebC__) June 20, 2023

Perhaps the least likely of the three in this list is Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, if only because he has already turned 24. A lively presence across the midfield, his average of 3.87 progressive carries per game puts him in the 99th percentile among players in his position Europe-wide.

Striker Habib Diallo hit 20 goals last term and Chelsea need a striker, but Nicolas Jackson is inbound from Villarreal, while Ibrahima Sissoko is a hulking 6'4" presence in midfield at a time when Chelsea have lost N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic, but neither are as likely as Bellegarde.

His potential SciSkill is a relatively paltry 87.7, but that puts him four full points clear of a certain Mykhailo Mudryk, whom Chelsea infamously paid a potential €100m for.