Chelsea chief Boehly caused Carragher to back Neville after 'disturbing' claim
Todd Boehly's comments around the future of the Premier League last year led to Jamie Carragher supporting Gary Neville's demand for an independent regulator.
Boehly secured a takeover of Chelsea last summer from the previous owner Roman Abramovich in a deal worth £4.25 billion. The American, who is also the owner of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, has since made a big impression on the Stamford Bridge club.
Chelsea have spent more than £700 million on signing new players across the three transfer windows since Boehly's takeover. Some of those fees have been offset by player sales, but the new ownership has led to significant changes in personnel both on the pitch and in the dugout.
It was in September last year at a conference in New York that Boehly outlined his belief that change is needed across the Premier League, not just at Chelsea. The billionaire explained why he thinks the English top flight could take note of the way sports are run in the United States, particularly from a financial point of view.
Bohely said in September 2022: "Ultimately, I hope that the Premier League takes a little bit of a lesson from American sports and really starts to figure out, 'Why wouldn’t we do a tournament with the bottom four teams? Why isn't there an all-star game?'
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"People are talking about more money for the pyramid. With the all-star game in LA this year, we made $200m from a Monday and a Tuesday. You could have a North versus South all-star game for the Premier League and fund whatever the pyramid needed very easily."
Jamie Carragher referenced Gary Neville when reacting to comments from Todd Boehly last year (Michael Regan/Getty Images)These comments led to Carragher bringing up the topic of the European Super League, where plans were announced in April 2021 before several teams opted to withdraw from the project. Carragher went on to explain why Boehly's comments mean that Manchester United legend Neville is right with his view of an independent regulator for English football.
"What disturbed me most about Boehly’s comments in midweek is that they proved such cynicism to be correct," Carragher wrote in The Telegraph in September 2022. "The sentiments which led to the Super League fiasco are not dead, merely in hibernation, with businessmen like Boehly waiting to seize the next opportunity to mould our game into an ill-fitting vision, his comments suggesting English football is not generating as much cash as it should be.
"That is why my Sky Sports colleague, Gary Neville, is so adamant an independent regulator is needed, ensuring what begins as an 'opinion' does not turn into a plan formulated by the most powerful clubs."
"What really annoyed me was the superior tone in which they were delivered," Carragher added. "What must worry Chelsea fans is that Boehly is prepared to speak now, think later. Either he has not sought advice about how such comments would be received, or even worse, he has not listened to it."
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