BlueCo is the story of a football empire that took on water on both sides of the Channel. Chelsea, spearhead of Todd Boehly’s consortium, and Strasbourg, French showcase of the project, are closing a 2025-2026 season without a trophy and without European qualification for the coming year. A reality which transforms the BlueCo project into a continental laughing stock and which risks being costly. Because beyond the financial shortfall for the coming year, it is also for the reputation and vision of the project that this season is disastrous. At Chelsea, the descent into hell accelerated in January with the dismissal of Enzo Maresca, urgently replaced by Liam Rosenior, himself dismissed in April in favor of interim Calum McFarlane.
Result: a dry elimination in the Champions League against PSG (0-2 in the first leg, 0-3 in the return), an FA Cup final lost 0-1 against Manchester City last week and a 10th place in the Premier League. Without direct qualification for the next edition via the ranking or the FA Cup, Chelsea will have to watch Europe from the stands next year. In addition to this sporting disappointment, the financial fallout risks being heavy for the club. Since their takeover, Boehly and Clearlake have spent more than a billion euros on transfers and have accumulated abysmal losses for several years.
What future for BlueCo?
In Strasbourg, the scenario is different in form. The Alsatians, however, had something to dream about. First in their league phase in the Conference League, they overthrew Mainz in the quarter-finals but the semi-final against Rayo Vallecano put an end to everything. Beaten in Madrid, Strasbourg failed to turn things around on the return leg. In Ligue 1, Gary O’Neil’s men finished in a worrying 8th place for such a project in an 18-team championship. Like Chelsea, the Alsatian club will not play any European competition next season, partly erasing the symbolic benefits of a great 2024-2025 season and an encouraging European epic.
Two clubs, two championships, zero titles, zero European Cups to come: rarely has Todd Boehly’s group seemed so far from its stated ambitions. The absence of European income for Chelsea as for Strasbourg for the next vintage will weigh on the finances of a group which has already placed a lot of emphasis on the future. Even more, it is the credibility of the project that is at stake. Indeed, the BlueCo model is only viable if the clubs progress together. However, this season, they have mostly failed at the same time and it remains to be seen what next season will bring for the two clubs who would be inspired to be revengeful.
