The Champions League

Bordeaux owner Gérard Lopez confirms Chelsea takeover interest

In an interview published in today’s L’Équipe, Bordeaux owner Gérard Lopez notably confirmed that his club was among the French sides being looked at as part of the Chelsea shareholders’ potential expansion into the French market.

Strasbourg president Marc Keller had confirmed that the Todd Boehly-led American consortium were interested in acquiring a 100% stake in the club, and that talks had taken place with them – among other potential investors.

Lopez, who has been Bordeaux president since 2021, has indicated that the Chelsea owners are looking at French clubs, as are other Premier League sides – “We are one of them, but there are a bunch.”

The Marine et Blanc currently sit second in the Ligue 2 standings, and are in the race for a swift return to the top flight after finishing bottom last year, and narrowly avoiding further administrative demotion owing to their financial difficulties. In today’s interview, Lopez indicates that the club’s deficit would be set at €15m should they remain in the second tier next season, while promotion will see them break even – a stark contrast to the debts that saw them run afoul of French football’s financial regulator, the DNCG, last summer. He adds that there are ongoing discussions potential new investors – a dozen have reached out – but that the idea would be to maintain a more self-sustaining model, in which he stays on board, rather than a quick injection of cash that would see the club’s running costs spiral out of control in the future, as was previously the case.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin 

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