Paul Merson says Chelsea risk ending up becoming an afterthought like Arsenal because they are just a "toy" to their new owners.
Todd Boehly's US consortium were finally given the green light for their £4.25billion takeover of the Blues this week. But Boehly's involvement with the LA Dodgers raises concerns for Merson - who fears Chelsea will only ever come second to the American's first love.
Gunners great Merson reckons that's exactly what's happened at his old club and doesn't want the Blues to suffer the same fate. Writing in his Daily Star column, Merson said: "Chelsea risk ending up like Arsenal unless their new American owners buck a worrying trend. It' a relief for everyone at Stamford Bridge that Todd Boehly's takeover has gone through and they can finally sign players again.
"But Chelsea is just a toy for them to play with. Look at all the other American owners in the Premier League - their US sports teams all do better than the teams they own over here. Look at Stan Kroenke at Arsenal. Why are the LA Rams winning the Super Bowl and Arsenal are coming fifth? Because that's where their priorities are. Look at Manchester United. The Glazers have won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But how long is it now since United challenged for the title?
"Chelsea's new owners are not going to invest the sort of money Roman Abramovich did. Those days are over. These Americans are now involved with one of the biggest clubs in the world. These toys don't come along too often - and I call it a toy because it is really, to these people.
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"It's something money usually can't buy. And they wouldn't have been able to buy it without the war in Ukraine and everything that's happened as a result. These guys own the LA Dodgers. What do they prioritise? Do they buy two top defenders and a world-class centre forward - or a pitcher for the baseball team?
"It's understandable. They've been brought up all their lives on American sports, not football. But you don't want Chelsea to be an afterthought. You don't want Chelsea to be like Arsenal. But these are business people. They're not used to having to spend £80m to buy a player and then give him £300,000-a-week because it doesn't work like that in US sports. It's a change of mindset. And Chelsea need a big summer of signings that they might not get."
Merson reckons Chelsea need a big summer window to fight their way back to the top after finishing so far behind Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League. He said: "They need at least a couple of defenders because Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are leaving, and they might not be the only ones leaving either. The mentality has to change as well because when they are on it, they no different to Manchester City and Liverpool.
"They did better against the top six clubs than Liverpool this season. And Liverpool couldn't beat them in two cup finals. But Liverpool put the lesser teams away, and Chelsea lost to 4-1 at home to Brentford. They needed a last minute goal to beat Watford at Stamford Bridge. That tells you the mentality isn't right - and there isn't a whole lot the new owners can do about that."
