Multi-club ownership: Chelsea taking Liam Rosenior from Strasbourg lays bare pitfalls of model
Half the Premier League is now under some form of multi-club ownership (MCO). But these clubs are at the top of the food chain and do not have the experience of being poorer relatives.
The parent club of the City Football Group is Manchester City and has full control of teams in Italy, France, Brazil, Australia, Uruguay and Belgium. It also owns 47% of Girona in Spain.
Red Bull is the majority owner of teams in Germany, Austria, the United States and Brazil; It has minority shares in other clubs, including Leeds United.
These are the big football operations, the MCO giants. Players and managers will move between entities. This is similar to an employee who receives a promotion through a multinational company.
Head coach Jesse Marsch, for example, left the New York Red Bulls for Salzburg and Leipzig. But never in the middle of the season.
Other MCOs are also sharing their ideas and enjoying relative growth, such as Tony Bloom’s interest in Brighton, Union Saint-Gilloise, Hearts and Melbourne Victory.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos owns 100% of Nice and Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport, but only 28.94% of Manchester United. However, its decisive influence on football operations at Old Trafford is enough to trigger one of UEFA’s MCO indicators.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport that Chelsea and Strasbourg’s two-club MCO was “unique”.
He added that while most MCOs are football-focused, BlueCo is more of a hedge fund strategy. This means bringing in low-value assets and selling them for a high return.
“Strasbourg is perhaps a bit adrift in that it is seen as a holding area for talent that Chelsea might want to bring to the club at a later point,” Maguire said.
“You could argue Rosenior is like that too, to gain experience elsewhere in Chelsea’s empire.
“BlueCo targets young players, gives them long-term contracts. Players become successful and the player’s value stabilizes.”
Strasbourg has the youngest squad in Europe’s top five leagues, while Chelsea is the fourth youngest.
