Chelsea has reached an agreement to acquire Emanuel Emegha from RC Strasbourg, a BlueCo sister club. Both clubs under the agreement, which will be fully executed in 2026, are owned by BlueCo, the business that the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital group established after purchasing Chelsea in 2022.
The 22-year-old made 27 appearances in Ligue 1 last season, tallying 14 goals and dishing out three assists. Prior to joining Strasbourg in 2023, the Netherlands under-21 international played for Royal Antwerp and Sturm Graz after beginning his career at Sparta Rotterdam.
Chelsea signed forwards Liam Delap and Joao Pedro this summer, while Nicolas Jackson signed a loan with Bayern Munich that included a buyout clause.
After Delap sustained an injury that is likely to keep him out of action for several months of the season, Chelsea also called up striker Marc Guiu from a season-long loan agreement at Sunderland.
On Saturday, Enzo Maresca’s team, who have seven points from their first three league games, will travel to Brentford for a west London derby.
Chelsea agrees to €40m+ deal after window closes
Chelsea has already completed another long-term acquisition in less than two weeks since the summer transfer market closed. Since Chelsea can closely monitor Emegha’s progress at sister club Strasbourg, they have been considering him for a while.
Chelsea benefited from the multi-club strategy in this instance. The attacker was attracting a lot of interest from English and international Champions League clubs early this year, but Strasbourg managed to cling onto him this summer.
Emegha was spoken to and assured that he’d be better off staying one more year and developing at Strasbourg before moving elsewhere. A sign of the trust and value placed in him was that he was also made captain for this season. At that point a move to Chelsea was not promised or guaranteed, but clearly, given the relationship between the two clubs, it could not be ruled out.
