Former Man United defender and well known pundit Gary Neville has expressed worry that American owners could exploit the Chelsea 'fans' with their 'growth' strategy amid takeover uncertainty.
Todd Boehly and the Ricketts Group are just two of the interested parties who are in the running to buy Chelsea from owner Roman Abramovich, and both are American. Sir Martin Broughton's consortium also has American involvement but from further afield.
If Chelsea was to come under American ownership, then the Blues would join eight other teams and therefore become the ninth to have mostly American involvement at ownership level - something that would come of a huge concern to Neville due to what he has seen unfold with how the Glazer Family have handled Man United. This is despite evidence that some American owners like Liverpool' Fenway Sports Group have shown their intentions to be purely football-based despite financial decisions that had gone down the wrong way in their early days with the Liverpool faithful.
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"He [Roman Abramovich], if he was allowed to take the money out of the club would have made a £1billion profit," Neville outlined on the third edition of the Overlap's Fan Debate series. "Now if the Americans buy into Chelsea at £2.5bn, they aren't daft. They think there is massive growth in that £2.5bn.
"And where is that growth coming from? That growth somewhere has got to be at the expense of the fans." He then went on to further his point: "They think they are going to get a Super League away. They think there is a technology company that's going to come in and put massive money in and that's where my mind is at - thinking this is worrying."
As already mentioned, brandishing owners from the same country under the same brush is unfair but with what has happened with the Glazer Family during their rocky time in Manchester to date, some Chelsea fans may share Neville's concerns.
