Are Chelsea-Strasbourg transfer deals bad for football?

Chelsea and Strasbourg came together under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's BlueCo group in 2023.

Across the first two years Strasbourg got the best of the deal.

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

Strasbourg were able to spend money they could only have dreamed about.

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

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

Those additional resources helped Strasbourg challenge for a place in the Champions League last season.

But last summer the way the two clubs did business began to change. The pendulum would swing towards the dominant MCO partner in Chelsea.

Take central defender Mamadou Sarr, who in June joined Chelsea from Strasbourg on a permanent deal.

The 20-year-old made only one appearance for Chelsea as a substitute at the Fifa Club World Cup.

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

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

Then there is the case of Ishe Samuels-Smith.

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

In the world of multi-club ownership there is logic to it.

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 had also resolved a contract dispute with another defender, Ismael Doukoure.

It left Samuels-Smith as a spare part in Alsace.

Rather than leave the 19-year-old struggling for first-team football, Chelsea effectively refunded the £6.5m transfer fee and sent him to the Championship club.

Club captain Emmanuel Emegha is already confirmed to be the next on the conveyor belt to Stamford Bridge.

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

The club's ultras - long-time critics of the association with BlueCo - demanded he hand back the captain's armband.

Outsiders see players (and indeed the head coach) jumping around from club to club at the behest of Chelsea.

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

Yet when Chelsea wanted Sarr in their first team, Anselmino was recalled from the Bundesliga club and sent to fill the hole in the Strasbourg squad.

Anselmino was reportedly in tears when he left Dortmund.

Chelsea were shifting chess pieces to suit their own strategy.

Yet recalling loan players from one club to send them to another should not be seen as special to a multi-club ownership structure.

For instance, last month Manchester United brought Harry Amass back from a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and sent him to Norwich City instead.