Strasbourg’s mega record summer transfer window has prompted debate over their relationship with owners BlueCo and sister team Chelsea.
The Ligue 1 side spent €127million in the summer, by far their most ever, and had the league’s top net spend of €41m.
Many of their 18 new recruits have links to Chelsea, and as such their relationship has been questioned by a number of French journalists.
Speaking on RMC Sport, Jean-Louis Tourre said: “In my opinion, Strasbourg distorts the league and can do things that other European clubs can’t afford.
“I see this as a distortion of competition. Strasbourg does things that timeshare clubs with similar models don’t.
“Toulouse has never made transfers with Milan (owned by RedBird), Nice never with Manchester United (owned by INEOS).
“Where an average European club has to spend the money it generates – it’s financial fair play – Strasbourg doesn’t hesitate to increase its revenue more or less artificially.”
To explain, he added: “The strongest case for me is Mamadou Sarr, recruited for 10 million euros in the summer of 2024 from Lyon, sold this summer by Strasbourg to Chelsea for 14 million euros and loaned back to Strasbourg.
“Basically, you amortize your recruitment by ten million euros, you make a capital gain and you benefit from the player in your squad.”
Comparing the situation to Lyon, he finished: “The clubs, led by Jean-Pierre Caillot (Reims president), agreed that Lyon was breaking something because the DNCG banned recruitment but was still able to do so through paid loans…
“Strasbourg does things that others can’t do, just as John Textor did things he couldn’t do. If they complained last year, we should complain here too.”
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