Chelsea set for UEFA headache! Strasbourg's Ligue 1 success leaves Blues on verge of 'trust' plan with sister club to avoid European ban

Under UEFA rules, no individual or legal entity may have control or decisive influence over more than one club competing in their European competitions. The BlueCo consortium, led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, owns Chelsea and Strasbourg; so if they both qualify for next season's Champions League, for instance, they would be in trouble. Now, Telegraph journalist Matt Law states BlueCo would have to pause their involvement in the Ligue 1 team via a blind trust in order to escape a ban.

Law adds that Chelsea and Strasbourg would not be able to transfer players to one another or use a shared scouting database while the blind trust - which allows the transfer or assignment in a club to an independent third party - is in place. With Liam Rosenior's team just one point off fourth in the French top-flight, there is a real possibility both they and Chelsea could qualify for the 2025-26 Champions League. Secretly, BlueCo may hope one gets into that competition and the other qualifies for the Europa League, rather than going through this process.

These newer rules are reportedly putting off English teams from expanding their multi-club plans in Europe due to the threat of expulsions.

Aside from the talk of possible bans, Chelsea, who sit fourth in the Premier League, host bitter rivals Tottenham on Thursday in their next match.