Gary Neville has instructed the Ricketts family to "move away" from trying to purchase Chelsea Football Club. The Ricketts are one of the four remaining contenders in the bidding process to buy the club from Roman Abramovich.
Some supporters gathered outside Stamford Bridge ahead of the Blues' 4-1 defeat to Brentford to protest against the bid. Tom Ricketts recently released a statement to confirm his family's plans when it comes to Chelsea.
"Over the past fortnight, our bid team has met with several supporter groups to explain our vision for Chelsea Football Club. In those meetings, and by letter to all groups, we have shared a set of specific commitments we will make to fans, if our bid is successful," the statement read.
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"We believe these are far-reaching and certainly include an absolute commitment on part of the Ricketts Family and the bid team to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of the club. We look forward to more meetings - including with the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust - over the coming days and to making a public reiteration of our values and commitments."
Former Manchester United defender Neville has now issued a clear instruction to the Ricketts family and told them to stay away from Chelsea because of the supporters' stance right now.
"I was in Qatar for the last few days for the World Cup draw. I came back this morning, I was catching up with everything and saw the Thomas Tuchel interview where he said that he won every game in March and he wasn't Manager of the Month, whereas Mikel Arteta had lost a game and he was. He said he'd be happy to continue winning every game and not be Manager of the Month. Today, all of the sudden, they lose a game at home," Neville said on his podcast.
"I have to say, if I was the Ricketts family and I was getting that type of hostility on the way in... move away, move away. The fans are important. If you're the government, I don't know if it's the government who are in charge of the bid, or Bruce Buck, or the organisation appointed by Roman Abramovich - but I would say that we have to make sure that the biggest clubs in the country, we've seen here with the Glazer family, Mike Ashley at Newcastle, it drains the life. Not just out of the club, but out of the city and everyone watching. That cannot happen at football clubs.
"It's not just about best bids, it's about what the fans want. The Ricketts family are trying to reach out to Chelsea fans, but they do have some historic issues that need dealing with and explaining. At this moment in time, they are not being explained very well.
"In this current light, with what's happened with the Super League, Big Picture, Derby, Bury, what's happened with all of these issues with Roman Abramovich and the links to Putin [something Abramovich has always denied], we have to start bringing back some sort of moral compass in determining who owns a football club."
