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.
Strasbourg, official seat of the European parliament, the jewel of the Alsace region on the west bank of the Rhine. Important historically, geographically and politically. One of the city's most famous sons, Arsene Wenger, as a boy, was so embedded that his first language was Low Alemannic German, not French. To use a word Wenger brought to the English football vernacular footballistically Strasbourg was never too much of a hub.
"Strasbourg embarked on a sensational rise under Liam Rosenior, securing a seventh-place finish among France's elite last season and achieving a gritty 1-0 victory away at Metz."
