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Manchester United legend Gary Neville has expressed his doubts over the Saudi Media Group’s potential takeover of Chelsea. The footballer-turned-pundit has hinted that the Saudi Arabia-based consortium might have to jump through a non-transparent “criteria hurdle” to purchase the English football club.
On Monday, renowned journalist Ben Jacobs claimed that Saudi Media Group made a £2.7 billion bid to take the club off Roman Abramovich’s hands. Chelsea fan Mohamed Alkhereiji is supposedly leading the consortium-backed purchase, with no direct links to the government.
Neville, however, is still unsure about the Saudi Media Group’s chances of owning Chelsea, indicating that the club and everyone involved might prefer a less controversial owner.
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On Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football (via Football Daily), the Englishman said:
“There’s been a headline today [about Saudi Media group’s interest in the club]. I’d be amazed if the Saudi Media company is allowed to buy Chelsea football club off the back of what’s happened. I do think there is something absolutely coming on top very quickly when it comes to fit and proper persons’ test.”
He added:
“It’s not resilient, it’s not independent, it’s not transparent. We don’t know what criteria hurdle the Saudis will have to jump through to get into this country. I was supportive of them coming in, even though I would probably reassess that after what’s happened in the last 10 days.”
In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chelsea’s current owner Roman Abramovich was recently sanctioned by the UK government. Authorities have frozen all of the Russian-Israeli billionaire's assets, making the Blues operate on a very tight budget.
The UK government, however, recently greenlit the club’s sale (via Sports Illustrated), meaning a change of ownership could be around the corner.
Chelsea maintain winning run despite off-field turmoils
Over the last couple of weeks, the Blues have been subjected to unimaginable instability. Following their owner’s sanction, their budget has been reduced to peanuts, meaning they are having to cut corners in every single step.
Despite dealing with such grave uncertainty, the west Londoners have somehow managed to extend their Premier League winning run to five games.
In the last 10 days, they have beaten Burnley, Norwich City, and Newcastle United, maintaining third place in the Premier League standings.
Their last outing against Newcastle was the trickiest of the lot, as they were forced to dig deep to get a win at Stamford Bridge.
Last season’s Champions League hero Kai Havertz ultimately popped up with a winner in the 89th minute, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
