Famed football pundit Gary Neville believes Chelsea fans will have ‘a lot of affinity’ for Roman Abramovich after the Russian put the club up for sale.
Abramovich, who took ownership of the club in 2003 and has led them to multiple trophies, broke his silence on Wednesday night to confirm he is putting the club up for sale and that he is writing off the £1.5billion debt he is owed by the club.
Net proceeds of any sale being donated to the victims of the war in Ukraine, as Abramovich braces himself for UK sanctions amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his close links with Russia president Vladimir Putin.
Sources claim Abramovich believes Chelsea is worth more than £3bn. However, it seems inevitable he will have to lower his expectations.
Yet Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United and England player Gary Neville insists Abramovich has been a ‘very good’ owner for Chelsea – adding there are ‘worse owners who are English’.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: ‘They’ll have a lot of affinity for Roman Abramovich will Chelsea fans and rightly so. I think I’ve had most of them on my timeline since I have them a hard time over his charities trustees comments on Sunday at the final!
‘But the reality of it is, Chelsea will be OK. Irrespective of whether you like the idea of Russian money coming into English football or not, Roman Abramovich has been a very good owner for Chelsea Football Club.
‘There are worse owners who are English. My home-town club Bury has a terrible owner who sent them bust. Derby’s owners at this moment in time are British. We’ve got an issue in football with ownership generally, not just international ownership or ownership coming from money that we may not like.’
Famed football pundit Gary Neville believes Chelsea fans will have ‘a lot of affinity’ for Roman Abramovich (right) after the Russian put the club up for sale
Neville (left) insists Abramovich has been a ‘very good’ owner for Chelsea – adding there are ‘worse owners who are English’
Bury FC went bust under English owner Steve Dale while Derby are currently in perilous financial difficulties following the ownership of Englishman Mel Morris.
Neville insisted that the criteria for foreign ownership in English football must be made more transparent.
Neville said: ‘What I would say is that football is on the brink here, it has been for a few years now and that’s why I’ve called for an independent regulator, based on the fact that I’m not against Saudi Arabian money coming into Newcastle and I know Newcastle fans have welcomed that money coming in to transform their football club because in their mind, and they were right, they had a very poor English owner.
‘However, what I believe should be the right of all English football fans in this country, including Newcastle fans, is what was the criteria that the Saudi Arabians had to get through to get into English football.
Bury FC went bust under English owner Steve Dale while Derby are currently in perilous financial difficulties following the ownership of Englishman Mel Morris
‘Where was the independence? Where’s the transparency? And the Premier League at this moment in time is a closed shop around these matters – and it’s just not good enough. It’s coming hurtling at them like you would not believe!’
Newcastle were taken over by a Saudi-led consortium in a £305m deal in October, seeing a huge influx of cash following Mike Ashley’s previous ownership.
Yet Neville says the Premier League must no longer turn a ‘blind eye’ to political issues affecting English clubs.
Newcastle were taken over by a Saudi-led consortium in a £305m deal in October 2021
‘They can’t separate sport and these societal and political issues anymore,’ he said.
‘They are going to have to stand up and accept that while they don’t believe they’re a public body, and they’re not in essence because they’re a private company and they’re owned by the 20 clubs, but ultimately they are going to be viewed like that and they are going to have to act and behave in that manner.
‘It’s coming towards them very quickly and they have to shape up. I know they’re turning a blind eye to the fan-led review that’s come out, but they are going to have to step up to the plate soon the Premier League because these issues are concerning them week-by-week, month-by-month, year-by-year and this is just another one this week with Roman Abramovich.’
Chelsea believe a sale to a US tycoon is their best route as they look for a new owner
There is a sense that securing an American buyer would be Abramovich’s best route to a sale because investment from China, the rest of the Far East and Eastern Europe has dried up for political reasons.
However, Abramovich’s reported links to the Russian regime could lead to reluctance to deal with Chelsea.
Similarly, rival clubs are apprehensive about dealing with the club. And Sportsmail understands prospective signings are uneasy about joining Chelsea, given Abramovich’s connections to Putin.
Abramovich’s relationship with Vladimir Putin is under scrutiny amid the Ukrainian invasion
Nevertheless, there are strong indications that Abramovich will receive at least two firm offers for Chelsea by the end of the week.
The danger of a buy-out being wrecked if Abramovich is sanctioned by the UK Government has made the situation urgent.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer challenged Boris Johnson in Parliament on Wednesday about why Abramovich has not yet been sanctioned, with the Prime Minister replying: ‘It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk