Strasbourg weren’t necessarily in the market for a centre-forward in January, however, an injury to Lebo Mothiba changed plans. The 27-year-old forward had to undergo surgery on a knee injury earlier this month and he is now expected to be absent for several months. 

Lille set to miss out on Luković

As a result, a replacement has been sought after. According to L’Équipe, Luković, who had also been targeted by Ligue 1 rivals Lille OSC, will sign for Les Alsaciens in the coming hours. RCSA will spend €5.5m on the forward, who competes in the Serbian division with IMT Belgrade. This season, he has 10 goals in 19 games in the league. 

However, he will not complete the season with Belgrade, and he will instead move to the Meinau, where he will compete with Emanuel Emegha for a spot in Patrick Vieira’s starting XI. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

The signing would come as a surprise to some, as Manchester City are currently favourites to enrol the Argentinian, doubling down on River Plate prospects after signing Julián Álvarez (23) from the club in the winter of 2022. The Citizens would then loan Echeverri back to River Plate until next summer, as they had done with Álvarez. FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG are also amongst the clubs reported to be interested in signing the 17-year-old.

Chelsea just behind Manchester City in the race to sign Echeverri

Chelsea are the latest club to have manifested their interest in the attacking midfielder, as the Blues look to add yet another top talent to their exciting portfolio of players. The Millionaires won’t be looking to sell their jewel any lower than his €25 million release clause, though the fee could turn out to be a bargain for whoever pays it if the youngster were to reach anywhere near his apparent potential.

If he were to be loaned to Strasbourg, Echeverri would undoubtedly be an immense addition to Patrick Vieira’s side, who would never have dreamed of signing such a prospect before BlueCo came in.

GFFN | Alfred Lalande

Patrick Vieira is keen for Strasbourg to recruit more wingers this winter. Despite a considerable recruitment drive in the summer, only two wingers, Ângelo Gabriel and Dilane Bakwa, arrived. That is insufficient for Vieira, who has identified the wide areas as a position for further strengthening. 

According to L’Équipe, Les Alsaciens have a potential interest in Manchester City’s Ndala, whose contract at the Premier League club runs until the end of the season. The winger competed at the recent U17 World Cup with England, scoring three goals and registering two assists. Strasbourg scour Bruno Paterno was present at the tournament and saw Ndala impress. 

As reported by L’Équipe, RCSA have a youth-centric recruitment process since the club’s takeover by BlueCo in the summer. Ndala would, therefore, certainly fit the mould. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Létang opened by saying, “I’m going to have a lousy vacation. I am very, very, very, very disappointed. We can lose matches, miss passes or checks but we don’t have the right to have the attitude we had today. It’s not possible, it’s not at all what we want. The Paris match hid our end a little but I told the players that the Clermont match (0-0) was already in my throat.”

Lille came into the match against Strasbourg following a positive 1-1 draw with PSG. The performance wasn’t perfect as it took Jonathan David to enter as a late substitute to secure a point for Les Dogues. However, the Lille president will have been much happier with that performance than he was with Fonseca’s side after their last game of 2023.

This is the opposite of what Létang hopes to achieve with Fonseca in charge of Lille as he explained in his heated mix zone appearance, “With Paulo (Fonseca), we have a level of ambition and the players have not been at the level of ambition that is ours. I said after the match in Lens that our course would depend on our series and our attitudes. Today’s match and Clermont are not at all the attitudes we want.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith

This comes after the worrying scenes against FC Lorient on the weekend where the striker exited the game on a stretcher after a tackle from Isaak Touré (20). 

Mothiba was diagnosed with a fracture on the patella of his left knee which required surgical intervention. 

The surgery was reportedly a success, but the South African international will be absent from the team for several months as he recovers. 

Despite this being a lengthy time in recovery, the injury appears to be less serious to the player than initially feared. 

Hopefully, this will mean that Mothiba will recover well in that time and will be able to make a full recovery on the pitch for Les Alsaciens in the new year. 

Whether Strasbourg will look to wait on the recovery of their second-highest goal scorer or attempt to find cover for his absence will soon be revealed with the winter transfer window approaching. 

The club have a budget of between €30-35 million in January, and finding a temporary replacement may become a necessity for a team who have not quite replaced the threat of Habib Diallo (28).

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Bakayoko, as well as Gedeon Kalulu will both miss Sunday’s match against RC Strasbourg Alsace. Both players will also be doubts to face Lille OSC on Wednesday. Régis Le Bris will be looking to arrest the slide at Lorient. Following Olympique Lyonnais’ victory over AS Monaco, Les Merlus dropped into the relegation zone, and they will need to now fight to break out of it. 

Le Bris is not expected to bring in wholesale changes against Strasbourg. Benjamin Mendy is expected to start once again, whilst Junior Eli Kroupi is expected to have to settle for a place on the bench. 

Lorient likely lineup v Strasbourg

Yvon Mvogo; Benjamin Mendy, Isaak Touré, Montassar Talbi, Formose Mendy; Julien Ponceau, Bonke Innocent, Laurent Abergel, Romain Faivre; Bamba Dieng, Tosin Aiyegun. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

The pair were also absent from the 2-1 victory against Le Havre AC last weekend. Doukouré suffered a sprain to his right ankle during the match against Stade Brestois and will not only be absent against Lorient but also against Lille OSC in midweek too. However, there are no fresh injury concerns for Patrick Vieira, who after getting his first victory since 24th September against Le Havre last weekend, will be looking to make it back-to-back wins against fellow strugglers Lorient. 

Ângelo Gabriel, who has seen his role in this Strasbourg side reduced in recent weeks, is set to start on the right, with Emanuel Emegha to start up front. 

Strasbourg likely lineup v Lorient

Matz Sels; Thomas Delaine, Abakar Sylla, Lucas Perrin, Frédéric Guilbert; Junior Mwanga, Ibrahima Sissoko; Habib Diarra, Kevin Gameiro, Ângelo Gabriel; Emanuel Emegha. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

It was a purchase that was marked by unease from the supporters as it would bring Les Alsaciens within a newly established multi-club project heralded by its flagship Chelsea. However, seemingly very little looked different for Strasbourg, as the previous owner, Marc Keller was kept on as the club President, to create a sense of stability during the handover of power. 

The biggest immediate impact was Keller’s announcement that BlueCo had invested major financial efforts to renovate the Meinau Stadium, as well as modernise club facilities such as the training ground. 

Six months on from the initial purchase this relationship between Strasbourg and the other teams within BlueCo’s multi-club model (in particular Chelsea) has become clearer thanks to a report by L’Equipe. 

BlueCo’s strategy for Strasbourg 

The report detailed that BlueCo were directly inspired by the multi-club model implemented by Red Bull. Wherein the club scouts young players with high potential, develops their skills over a three-year period, and then sells them at a high price before repeating the process. 

Part of that model relies on the role of Red Bull Salzburg who operate as a feeder club for RasenBallsport Leipzig. Talent is developed at Salzburg before it is then moved onto Leipzig where it can be better showcased in the Bundesliga and sold for a higher fee. 

In this system, Strasbourg would become to Chelsea what Salzburg are to Leipzig. A notion that the French team strongly reject. Yet, this concept has regardless influenced a dramatic shift in the transfer strategy at Strasbourg, with recruitment to be focused on players aged 23 or under. 

To better help Strasbourg transition towards this strategy, BlueCo pooled the club’s resources with Chelsea. The two sporting directors of the London team, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, would provide their expertise, as well as a player database and much superior technological resources. 

A refined strategy

A few weeks into the summer, BlueCo exerted its influence on the club instructing Les Alsaciens to not just simply focus on a recruitment geared towards young players but to focus exclusively on young players. There was no longer room in the budget for any player that did not fit the consortium’s overall strategy and player profile. 

Before this shift, Strasbourg had been in advanced negotiations with several players that had matched the club’s criteria following a season where they had struggled against relegation. In particular, the team had focused its attention on signing an experienced centre-back such as Davinson Sanchez (27) or Kenyan Joseph Okumu (26). 

L’Equipe reports that this had the effect of worrying certain players within the squad, who questioned the benefits of the team looking to focus exclusively on youth when seven players aged 21 or under were already returning to the club following the end of their loan deals. However, Strasbourg argues that they are ‘not extremists… If we have to take an experienced player, we will do it.’ With the club actively renewing Kévin Gameiro’s (36) contract for an extra year. 

The future for Strasbourg

The winter transfer window will reveal much about the future of Les Alsaciens and their relationship within the BlueCo framework of clubs. 

The French side have been provided with €30 to 35 million and the player profile brought in with those funds will likely reveal whether BlueCo’s strategy has developed any further since the summer. 

With the club sat in 10th and the results inconsistent under manager Patrick Vieira there could always be a need for some added experience to help the club in the new year.

GFFN | Nick Hartland

€53m was spent on four 20-year-olds in the summer and with many of Les Alsaciens’ summer recruits struggling to live up to their price tags – so far – criticism has been a constant in recent weeks. The club’s major fan group Ultra Boys 90 has previously described the squad as “unrelatable” and “unworthy”. 

That criticism came in the context of a barren winless run. Prior to Strasbourg’s 2-1 victory over Le Havre on Sunday, the club’s last win in Ligue 1 came in the Derby de l’Est against FC Metz on 24th September. 

However, speaking to Prime Video Sport after RCSA’s draw against Stade Brestois last Thursday, Vieira has called for patience in his players. “I love working with the players. The attitude is good. These are young players, which means that you need to repeat things, be patient with them, and make them understand the things that they need to improve on. You need to be behind them when things are going well, but also when things aren’t going so well and believe what we’re putting in place. We need patience. People need to understand that because these are players that are coming from Ligue 2, or let’s say, inferior leagues. They are players discovering Ligue 1,” he said. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

L’Équipe reports that the former Crystal Palace manager should make three changes from the side that rescued a point away at Brest last time out in the French top flight. Vieira is set to award Emanuel Emegha with a starting berth after his heroics against Brest from the bench – scoring a late equaliser to secure a point. The reintroduction of Emegha should see Mothiba drop to the bench. 

The former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder should reinstate Junior Mwanga to the Strasbourg midfield with Ismaël Doukouré unavailable due to injury. Vieira is also expected to make one change in defence with Thomas Delaine replacing Frédéric Guilbert at full back. 

Strasbourg likely XI vs Le Havre: 

Mats Sels – Marvin Senaya, Lucas Perrin, Abakar Sylla, Thomas Delaine –  Ibrahima Sissoko, Junior Mwanga – Dilane Bakwa, Kevin Gameiro, Habib Diarra – Emanuel Emegha. 

GFFN | Liam Wraith