Controversial Chelsea signing booed by own fans as Behdad Eghbali watches on
After Chelsea’s success in the competition last season, BlueCo would have been eyeing a second straight Conference League title when Strasbourg reached the semi-final of the competition. But the French side’s run came to an end this week as they lost the two legs 2-0 on aggregate. But it was the scenes after the match that drew most of the headlines.
It would be safe to say that Strasbourg fans are not happy with how BlueCo have run the club despite their relative success since the takeover. The French side have become somewhat of a feeder system for Chelsea.
The Blues have signed several players already from Strasbourg and are expected to add more in the future. They even swooped in and signed their manager, Liam Rosenior, in the middle of the season. And we all know how that turned out.
So, the fan frustration is understandable. And a large part of it has been directed at Emmanuel Emegha, the club captain who has already agreed to join Chelsea in the summer. To make matters worse, he has dealt with injury problems and barely featured this season ahead of his exit.
Future Chelsea striker Emmanuel Emegha booed by own fans
According to football.london, Behdad Eghbali was in attendance at the Stade de la Meinau and watched Rayo Vallecano eliminate Strasbourg from the Conference League.
He must have also witnessed the incident after the game as Emegha was jeered and booed by his own fans after the game. And his actions were even misinterpreted as some media outlets as telling the supporters that he was not the one who had played on the night.
On the contrary, Emegha wanted the fans to applaud the team for their efforts. After all, this was their first season in Europe in a couple of decades and they made it to the semi-finals.
Will Emegha be a success at Chelsea?
It remains to be seen how Emegha will perform in Chelsea colours. He is someone who has scored a ton of goals when fit and available. That being said, he does not look like the most polished striker by any means.
His overall gameplay is not the most elegant. And his finishing needs some work as well. Last season, Emegha underperformed his xG by about three goals in Ligue 1.
Then there are the injury problems. Emegha has played less than 900 minutes of football this season. Another injury-prone striker is the last thing Chelsea need right now.
That being said, perhaps Emegha will prove the doubters wrong and prove to be a success in a Chelsea jersey. You never know. We can only hope for the best.
Sourav Mahanty has covered teams like Chelsea, Celtic, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG and more over a career that has now lasted a decade.
His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, SB Nation, FanSided, The Sportster and aggregated through Bleacher Report and NewsNow.
Outside of football, he is also interested in basketball, cricket and professional wrestling.
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