Chelsea's U.S. owners are preparing for Bruce's eligibility to compete in the same European match as French sister club Strasbourg.

European football dominant agency UEFA Football Club has strict rules on the multi-club ownership model and has forced Chelsea and Strasbourg parent company Blueco to make changes to give both clubs a chance to play Champions League football next season - if they qualify.

Strasbourg is currently ranked sixth in Ligue 1 and may need to win the last two games to ensure third place to qualify for the Champions League, ahead of Monaco, Nice, Lille and Lyon.

Chelsea owners have spoken with European olive oil since January to build a compliant structure. Strasbourg is expected to fall into “blind” trust while eliminating conflicts such as board members or employees working in both clubs.

Two established ways of ownership rules for European Union (UEFA) multi-clubs are to reduce one of the shares - like Brighton boss Tony Bloom did with his Belgian clothing union union Union, San Giloise, or put one of them in blind trust so that the individual cannot exert influence on both clubs.

In a similar situation to Blueco, Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis downplayed control of the club in preparation for a possible Champions League qualification, and the Olympics will compete by winning the Greek league.

Legally Marinakis is no longer a "major controller" of a company that owns Forest Company.

Since the £64 million takeover in 2023, Marinakis has been the same as Chelsea’s commitment to Strasbourg, as has Chelsea’s commitment to Strasbourg.

Manchester United's co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe moved his two other Ineos-owned clubs Nice and Lausanne-Sport into the structure owning Manchester City and the City Football Group, and also transferred Girona to the Blind Trust.

Strasbourg, led by British manager Liam Rosenior, has been unbeaten since the international break in March, including last week's defeat of champion PSG, with their last two games threatening Angers and Le Havre with relegation.

Strasbourg can win the highest league since 1979, the youngest team in Europe's top five leagues.

Meanwhile, Chelsea ranks fifth in the Premier League, against Newcastle, Manchester United and Forests for the remaining three games.

If neither club is eligible for the Champions League, they may join the Europa League.

If UEFA will also ban Chelsea and Strasbourg from making any kind of transfer between the two clubs when they participate in the same match.