Leboeuf pleads for top job at Chelsea and says he’d sacrifice ‘pure talent’ £100m Liverpool target first up

Former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf has made a public appeal to the club’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali to get him involved in the running of the club and their relationship with sister club Strasbourg, though he has admitted that the Blues may need to consider sacrificing a talented star struggling to find his way under the management of Xabi Alonso.

The Blues embarked on another new era this summer when Xabi Alonso was appointed as first-team manager on a four-year deal, with the Spaniard afforded many more powers than those enjoyed by some of his predecessors and with the 44-year-old heavily involved in all aspects of player recruitment.

A big part of that these days at Chelsea is their relationship with sister club Strasbourg, who BlueCo also own, and has seen a raft of player trading between the clubs in recent years.

Indeed, Argentina midfielder Valentin Barco and Dutch striker Emmanuel Emegha are the two latest players to make the move to West London, while the likes of Andrey Santos, Mamadou Sarr, Ben Chilwell, Mike Penders, Filip Jorgensen and Djorde Petrovic are just some of the names who have moved in the opposite direction in various arrangements.

Then there was also Liam Rosenior, who has given the top job at Chelsea after a successful stint in charge of the French side, though the less said about that, the better…

Now, Leboeuf, who performed with distinction for both sides in his playing days, has urged Eghbali to give him a job of becoming some sort of liaison manager between both clubs and to help manage that flow of transfers.

“Look at my connection with Chelsea and Strasbourg, I’d love to work for those clubs and in that system because I care about football and know the game well,” the 58-year-old told Mr Gamble.

“David Beckham created a successful project at Inter Miami that players want to join because it’s professionally run and he has that passion.

“That’s football, and I know football!

“I wouldn’t be doing it for myself. I would do it for football. I know Behdad Eghbali at Chelsea, and I know Marc Keller at Strasbourg, and we speak sometimes; anytime they need me, I will go.”

Leboeuf suggests Liverpool-linked Chelsea star could be sacrificed

A cultured centre-half on his day, who won 50 caps for France, Leboeuf has become a professional referee and taken up some high-profile acting roles since retiring from the game in 2007.

However, if he were to get a job at Chelsea, one transfer he would advise surrounds the future of mercurial winger Estevao Willian, who is clearly blessed with great ability but who has struggled to find his best form while at Stamford Bridge.

Indeed, the now £100m-rated star has recently been linked with a shock move to Liverpool as the heir at Anfield to Mohamed Salah.

And while Leboeuf is not necessarily advocating that they sell the former Palmeiras talent to their Premier League rivals, he is concerned that the 19-year-old may not fit into Alonso’s preferred system and an exit in 2027 could be in the best interests of all parties.

“I think Estevao might have to leave Chelsea, and it’s a shame because he is a pure talent,” Leboeuf explained.

“But Xabi Alonso proved at Leverkusen that his system works by going undefeated and winning the Bundesliga. Why change it?

“He joined Chelsea when Estevao was already there, but he didn’t specifically choose him. Estevao might be sacrificed. It might be time to sell him.

“If you’re not going to use him, sell him, because he deserves to play and could be well-utilised by other teams.

“He has great talent. If Xabi Alonso doesn’t need him, why keep him instead of letting him move elsewhere?”