Gary Neville praises ‘competitive’ impact of Roman Abramovich’s investment in Chelsea after 19 years at club

Gary Neville has outlined why he believes the Premier League’s significant foreign investment has been good for English football.

On Tuesday, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich stated his intention to sell the capital club after 19 years at the helm.

The Russian arguably sparked the trend for overseas investors to try and make their mark on the English game before becoming embroiled in the invasion of Ukraine instigated by Vladimir Putin.

Neville said the “alleged links between Abramovich and Putin”, which the Chelsea owner has denied, caused problems for the club but should not lead to Abramovich being kicked out of English football.

The Premier League, he said when speaking before the announcement, had benefited nonetheless from the Russian’s involvement.

“[Abramovich] has been an owner of Chelsea now for 20 years and from my point of view I have spoken openly about how I have welcomed the challenge to the historical elite, which was Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal,” Neville told the Financial Times Football Business Summit.

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