In addition to the Portuguese Portimonense, Todd Boehly also has his eye on Ligue 1’s RC Strasbourg. Chelsea is interested in shares of the club, according to the English newspaper The Guardian.
“Chelsea owner pursue ‘multi-club project’ and also wants shares in France”
Blues owner Boehly and investment company Clearlake Capital are looking at clubs that fit into the so-called ‘multi-club project’: clubs that are intended as a springboard to Chelsea’s first. The London club can thus attract players more easily and at the same time give them playing time at the highest level. The Portuguese Portimonense was already in the picture with Boehly and co and Strasbourg is also a serious option. According to The Guardian, other clubs in France are also being looked at, as well as in Belgium, Portugal and South America.
Talks are also said to have been held with Bordeaux, but Strasbourg is said to be more financially interesting. What has to be paid for a share in Strasbourg depends on what level it plays next year. Strasbourg is not yet sure of retention in Ligue 1. Should it all come to that, Boehly will become one of Strasbourg’s eleven shareholders.
Moroccan national coach defends discredited Aboukhlal
Staying in Ligue 1, national coach Walid Regragui of Morocco has reacted with surprise to all the commotion around Toulouse striker Zakaria Aboukhlal, who has been provisionally suspended by his French employer. The club has launched an internal investigation into the Moroccan international.
The 23-year-old is said to have had an altercation with Laurence Arribagé, the deputy mayor of the city and alderman for sports, during the ceremony of the Coupe de France winner in the city hall of Toulouse. Arribagé is said to have approached a number of players, including Aboukhlal, to be less noisy. According to RMC, Aboukhlal would have responded with “Women don’t talk to men like that at home.”
Last Sunday, Toulouse already announced that Aboukhlal and five other players were suspended because they did not want to associate themselves with a statement about the international day against homophobia last weekend. Toulouse announced on Monday that it had launched an ‘internal investigation’ into the commotion around Aboukhlal.
Regragui, who used Aboukhlal at the World Cup in Qatar, is quite surprised by all the reports about the ex-AZ player. “The other staff members are also surprised. If there’s one boy we can’t imagine stories like this from, it’s Zak. He is a very respectful boy with good morals and values. He is well brought up. We met his parents during the World Cup,” Regragui told L’Équipe.
Aboukhlal has already contacted Regragui. “He denied that he ended up in that altercation (at city hall). Zak always showed impeccable behavior with us during the World Cup. We also have a female team manager and when she addressed him, he also showed respect. He has a lot of respect for other people. What I hear and read is very far from the Zak I know,” said Morocco’s coach.
