Roy Keane and Gary Neville don’t see eye-to-eye on much these days.
Ask them about Manchester United, Michael Carrick, Kobbie Mainoo, or Ruben Amorim – pick your poison and the legends will find something to clash over.
But the duo have finally found common ground and that’s in naming which Premier League club is the most screwed for next season.
They and Ian Wright agree that Chelsea are the club in ‘the biggest trouble for next season’ after their alarming slide down the Premier League table.
‘I don’t think they know where they’re going,’ Neville said on the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.
With Tottenham enduring two consecutive relegation battles and Manchester United finishing 15th last season, there is a genuine concern that Chelsea could be dragged into the lower reaches of the table in 2026-27.
Gary Neville (left) and Roy Keane (right) say they are worried for Chelsea next season
The Blues have endured a woeful past couple of months and could finish in the bottom half
The Blues have lost six Premier League games on the bounce and went two months without a goal until Joao Pedro’s 93rd-minute consolation against Nottingham Forest on Monday.
They have lost those six games to an aggregate score of 14-1 and are at serious risk of finishing in the bottom half.
Having sacked Enzo Maresca in January when they were fifth, the west Londoners are in danger of finishing as low as 16th.
All of this has come after a summer splurge of almost £300million in a season where they were meant to build on their successes of winning the Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League.
Chelsea could still win the FA Cup under caretaker manager Calum McFarlane. They play Manchester City at Wembley on May 16.
That would at least be a silver lining on a season which has descended into gloom and once again brought intense scrutiny on owners BlueCo, who have binned off two managers in Maresca and Liam Rosenior.
Failure to secure any form of European football – let alone a Champions League spot – could make it harder for Chelsea to attract the calibre of manager they desire in the summer.
Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Manchester City could all be on the hunt for a new boss and at present they are far more attractive destinations than Chelsea.
Any manager or player who signs up puts themselves at the whim of a chaotic ownership group who have produced an average finishing position of seventh.
Even their established stars have suffered. Cole Palmer’s World Cup hopes are much depleted after a difficult campaign which has seen him contribute just 10 Premier League goal involvements, five of which have been penalties.
Palmer delivered 33 goal involvements under Mauricio Pochettino in 2023-24, and 23 under Maresca in 2024-25.
He hasn’t scored since March, hasn’t assisted since February, and when one of the nation’s most prodigious talents is in that sort of form, it’s no wonder Keane and Neville are concerned for the Blues.
