The Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior has dismissed allegations that the French club exist to feed Chelsea before his side face Crystal Palace in the Conference League.
Both clubs are owned by BlueCo — the consortium led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss — and have openly traded players in recent seasons, but Chelsea appear to have been made the priority.
Although Strasbourg signed five players from Chelsea during the summer, including the experienced left back Ben Chilwell on a permanent deal, much of their transfer business has been done with the Premier League side in mind — with the Ligue 1 club developing young talent.
They have three players under the age of 21 — Mike Penders, Mamadou Sarr and Kendry Páez — on loan from Chelsea this season, while Emanuel Emegha, the 22-year-old Netherlands striker who has scored 29 goals in 69 games since joining Strasbourg from Strum Graz in 2023, will move to Stamford Bridge next summer.
Julio Enciso, 21, who joined the French side on a four-year deal from Brighton & Hove Albion in August, is set to follow the same pathway. However, Rosenior insists Strasbourg, who are fifth in Ligue 1, are not Chelsea’s B team.
“There are so many clubs in the world that have multi-club ownership, sister clubs, or whatever you want to call it,” Rosenior, 41, said. “We are definitely not Chelsea B. We are a football club in our own right, who are performing with by far the youngest squad in Europe.
“We have a group of players who run, fight for the shirt and make the club proud. I try to reflect the values of the area the best I possibly can. This club has its own traditions in its own right, which the players have magnificently defended.
Chilwell is Strasbourg’s only outfield player older than 23
SATHIRE KELPA/GETTY
“Chelsea are a huge football club with a huge tradition. It’s easy for people to make those assumptions and accusations. The reality is Chelsea and Strasbourg are two absolutely gigantic football clubs in their countries and have been very successful.”
Meanwhile, Chilwell believes making England’s World Cup squad would be “the biggest middle finger to so many people”, and has been told by Thomas Tuchel that he could be selected for next summer’s tournament.
The left back, 28, earned the most recent of his 21 England caps in March 2024, but feels rejuvenated at Strasbourg. Having been dropped to Chelsea’s “bomb squad” — the group of players exiled from first-team training by the head coach, Enzo Maresca — Chilwell moved to France and has started all but three of Strasbourg’s league games since then. He is also set to face Palace, for whom he played on loan last season, on Thursday.
Chilwell, then, thinks World Cup selection is possible and would mean vindication.
“What a story it would be if I went to the World Cup after I was in the bomb squad and everyone had counted me out 12 months prior,” Chilwell told BBC Sport. “It would just be the biggest middle finger to so many people, which to me is a motivation. Chelsea were honest with me and there’s no resentment, but of course I’ve got an ego, so it would be a nice feeling to prove some people wrong.”
He added: “It makes me laugh that people think I’m an old player at 28 — I’m really in my prime. That’s why the World Cup is an ambition … there’s so much to achieve.”
Tuchel, the England head coach, knows Chilwell from his time in charge of Chelsea, where they won the Champions League together in 2020-21. Chilwell was the starting left back for that run to European glory and Tuchel has informed him that he is a candidate to play at the World Cup.
Chilwell was Tuchel’s preferred left back during Chelsea’s run to Champions League glory in 2020-21
MARCELO DEL POZO/REUTERS
“We’ve had conversations since he got the job at England [in October 2024],” Chilwell said. “I’ll try and word it right — it has been said that it’s not out of the equation.”
Chilwell signed for Chelsea in 2020, but the following year’s Champions League title was the high point of his time in west London. He subsequently injured an ACL in November 2021, did not make the England squads for the 2022 World Cup or Euro 2024, and struggled for minutes once Maresca became the Chelsea head coach in July 2024.
Chilwell believes he “suffered” from Maresca’s emphasis on inverted full backs but “also completely knew I could have done the role”.
While Chilwell’s Chelsea career ended on a negative note, he left on good enough terms to join their sister club.
“My relationship with the owners has never been bad,” Chilwell said. “They’ve always rang or messaged. They go to a lot of Strasbourg games, we’re cool and we’ll give each other a hug. The only thing you can ask for as a footballer is honesty.
“I’ve never had anything against Enzo Maresca. I told everyone how much I respected the fact that he was honest, because at least then I could just go, ‘All right, cool, I’m not wanted.’ Of course I wasn’t happy with the decision. I didn’t agree with it, but I respected it.”
Oliver Glasner, the Palace manager, reminisced on the journey to winning the FA Cup with Chilwell, who made three appearances en route to their triumph at Wembley. “He’s a fantastic player and even a better person,” Glasner said.
“I really enjoyed working with him for a few months. Celebrating winning the FA Cup. We will always have the connection there. Winning a trophy together stays for ever. I’m really pleased that he plays a very good role now for Strasbourg.”