Patrick Vieira reveals Strasbourg’s lofty European ambitions | OneFootball

Patrick Vieira, who took over RC Strasbourg Alsace last summer, has revealed that the club is targeting European qualification in the near future.

The former Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester City midfielder joined Strasbourg last summer, upon BlueCo’s purchase of the Alsace club. He has overseen a radical change in the club’s strategy, with Vieira contending with the introduction of BlueCo’s youth-centric transfer approach. It is an approach that has garnered criticism from some quarters, even from within at times, however, in his first season at the Meinau, Vieira kept Strasbourg afloat.

Vieira targets top 10 next year and Europe in three years

Just as they were during the 2022/23 season, RCSA were at times threatened by relegation, however, Vieira ultimately steered the club to a 13th-place finish. By the end of the season, Les Alsaciens had built a 10-point gap to the relegation zone. As the Frenchman told the Stick to Football podcast, Strasbourg are now looking up the table.

“Strasbourg, 10 years ago, were in the lower levels, so they’ve made their way up in the last 10 years, so there is a big change because now one of the owners is Todd Boehly, so we are part of the Chelsea family. The ambition is to play European football in the next three years, there is a big turn of young players, and this year was challenging and difficult – we struggled and went through some difficult periods,” began Vieira.

He added, “Hopefully, we will keep our best young players. We’re going to try and improve the team and ty and finish in the top 10 next year. Then, why not play European football in two years’ time from now.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle