Strasbourg and Chelsea are owned by the same organisation, BlueCo, and that could give Chelsea an advantage in the transfer race. It will be interesting to see if they can beat Atletico to his signature. Meanwhile, Diego Simeone has already informed the Atletico Madrid hierarchy that he wants to sign the 23-year-old. He believes that the Argentine forward could develop into a top-class player with the right guidance. It will be interesting to see how the situation develops.
Most Strasbourg fans thought they had it good from the deal which tied them together with Chelsea. After all, the BlueCo investment has given the French side a team competitive in Ligue 1 and finished top of the Uefa Conference League table last month. There has been a 157m revamp of their Stade de la Meinau home, improving facilities and increasing capacity.
Strasbourg, official seat of the European parliament, the jewel of the Alsace region on the west bank of the Rhine. Important historically, geographically and politically. One of the city's most famous sons, Arsene Wenger, as a boy, was so embedded that his first language was Low Alemannic German, not French. To use a word Wenger brought to the English football vernacular footballistically Strasbourg was never too much of a hub.
