Gary Neville has been speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo – and says that American investment is one of the biggest issues facing English football right now.
The Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United captain has made headlines for his stances on the proposed European Super League and his opinions on the Glazer family ownership at Old Trafford.
With Chelsea owner Todd Boehly making news now with ideas of how All-Star games could be implemented in the Premier League, Neville says that English football should be wary of Boehly and the rest of America – and that the sport as we know it could change, should these investors get their own way.
"I actually think American investment funds are a greater risk to English football than nation states," Neville told FFT in his Blueprint to Save Football in the new issue of FFT. "Nation states bring their own issues like workers’ rights, human rights and LGBT rights, but I don’t think they have the intention of damaging football in this country.
"American investment funds want to change the fabric. They want to create franchise football, to change the rules of the game, extract profits and dividends. They could drive prices up with regard to tickets."
Neville also added that ensuring fit and proper owners are in place of clubs is a priority for the game. The 47-year-old is a co-owner of Salford City himself.
"This isn’t just about attacking nation states or American investment funds, which could be a big problem," he continued. "We also have rogue owners at the bottom of the scale. We need a transparent and robust licence system.
"There should be clear criteria where everybody knows what you need to be a fit and proper owner of an English football club. It’s not just a business on the street like Harrods, John Lewis or Uber where they invest Middle Eastern funds; football clubs should be treated differently, because they are too important to communities.
"If you own a football club, there should be a high level of expectation for those owners."
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