Liam Rosenior looks up at the towering Strasbourg Kop. He shouts and pleads as he points to his players, demanding the fans applaud them. Met with hostility, boos and jeers in the stands, he cuts a lone figure, one at pains to sow unity at a divided club. Strasbourg had just won the game, beating Le Havre 1-0 earlier this season, but the club's fans were in no mood to celebrate.
While he may have grown up the son of a humble Italian fisherman, the head coach had gotten a little too big for his waders, eventually being tossed into an ocean of opaque criticism he had levelled at unspecified members of the club hierarchy. Like a frail old man bobbing around the Tyrrhenian Sea while trying to reel in a 500lb bluefin tuna with a spool of dental floss, Maresca had picked a battle he was always going to lose and on Tuesday Chelsea unveiled the Italian's replacement.
Chelsea confirmed the signing of 22-year-old Strasbourg captain Emanuel Emegha for an undisclosed fee earlier this year but he is yet to appear for the Blues. The attacker is set to join up with the rest of the squad at Stamford Bridge next year, after seeing out the 2025/26 campaign with the Ligue 1 outfit. Strasbourg are owned by Chelsea's parent company BlueCo, and are an affiliate of the Blues, which has drawn criticism from rivals and the French club's own fans.
Ismael Doukoure heading to Chelsea? Graeme Bailey said: Part of the new deal, he was handed a significant pay rise, but he also signed knowing a pathway is in place for him to follow Strasbourg team-mate Emanuel Emegha to Stamford Bridge in 2026. We can confirm that Newcastle did make an approach, but so did Brighton, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, West Ham, and others in Europe and Saudi Arabia.
Transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano says Julio Enciso is set for a medical today ahead of a transfer to Chelsea owners BlueCo. It is expected that the Brighton midfielder will initially join Strasbourg, who are also under the same ownership as Chelsea. In the long run, though, it seems Enciso is viewed as a Chelsea signing, as also reported by the Athletic last night.
