Racing Club de Strasbourg president Marc Keller has hit back at the club’s fans who have targeted him and striker Emanuel Emegha over his move to Chelsea.
Foot Mercato cover the situation today and how the president was ‘explosive’ in a recent appearance during a press conference.
They explain that there is currently a frosty relationship between Strasbourg fans and the club’s management and there has been since Chelsea owners BlueCo bought the club in 2023.
Supporters groups have consistently expressed their distrust in the American group, despite positive results, and recently unfurled a banner urging Keller to go.
He wasn’t the only one in the firing line as Emegha, their captain, was also targeted with a banner. The reason? His signing for Chelsea recently being made official.
That was the latest in a series of Chelsea related insults as far as they’re concerned, with a list that includes Ishé Samuels-Smith returning to Chelsea for ‘ten times his real value’ just 34 days after joining the French side and Mamadou Sarr going on trial with the Blues this summer during the Club World Cup.
Keller called an emergency press conference on Thursday to address the situation and hit back at the fans for the banners, particularly those focused on the striker.
“Something happened that I couldn’t have imagined,” he said.
“I saw a minority of people in the West Stand attacking the institution, the project, and our captain. It’s unacceptable; these are not our values. Attacking our captain is not right.
“The fans support us. We used to communicate a lot, including in the National League. But that’s changed over the past two years; it’s sad. And what happened on Sunday no longer respects our club’s rules; we don’t accept it.
“We were able to bring him (Emegha) in thanks to BlueCo two years ago; many big clubs approached us this summer. Our priority is to keep our striker and leader. We found the best balance with this agreement, which allows us to keep the player, then let him leave for Chelsea in a year.”
