Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has labelled Roman Abramovich "one of the worst things to happen to English football" following his decision to sell Chelsea.
Abramovich is set to part company with the Stamford Bridge club after Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, triggering a bloody war in eastern Europe.
The Russian oligarch has overseen the most successful period in Chelsea's history, winning 21 trophies - including five Premier League titles and the Champions League twice.
He bought the club for just £140million in 2003 and it's believed he wants between £3billion and £4bn, with an American-Swiss consortium leading the race.
Blues fans were heard chanting Abramovich's name during their team's game against Burnley on Saturday, as many have credited the billionaire with the club's success.
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Others, however, feel uneasy about where Abramovich's money has come from and his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin, which he has always denied.
And Jordan, who was chairman of Palace between 2000 and 2010, believes the Russian should not be praised for his influence on the English game.
"People were attributing last week the evolution of the Premier League to people like Roman Abramovich," Jordan told talkSPORT on Monday morning.
"With due respect - with the exception of Chelsea - Roman Abramovich was one of the worst things that could've happened to English football.
"We were on a direction of travel that was already upwards. Our Premier League was already flying, we already had the broadcasters throwing money at us - hand over fist.
"What you did was you created hyperinflation. You might have broken up the duopoly, you might have stopped the powerhouses that were [Manchester] United and Arsenal for a period of time.
"But that was going to happen anyway because ownership models were changing anyway.
"What you did was you changed the landscape by making football so financially unviable for your own reasons."
Jordan then went on to speculate Abramovich's reasons for buying Chelsea and the takeovers of Manchester City and Newcastle.
City are owned by Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while a Saudi-backed consortium completed a takeover of Newcastle last October.
"These people aren't buying these football clubs because they love the football clubs, they're buying them because they want to get a life insurance policy against political leanings," added Jordan.
"They want to sportswash, they want to legitimise regimes like Newcastle, they want to have a situation where they own our English football clubs.
"And we sit there and we go, 'That's great.' And the main beneficiaries of it are agents and players.
"What have we got now? A generation of players that have no character, no backbone, no substance, get paid far too much money. The immorality of football comes up for question.
"And I think it's a tragedy... Abramovich's legacy is what? For Chelsea, fabulous. For football in this country, I think it's awful... good riddance, bye bye, next."
