Jamie Carragher admits he got 'a little emotional' after hitting out at hypocritical Chelsea fans

Former Liverpool defender Carragher stated his belief that Manchester United should try to cash in on Chelsea's crisis that has put the club's future under a dark cloud follow the UK government's decision to sanction Blues owner Roman Abramovich.

A new Chelsea owner is likely to be in place soon, yet Champions League winning boss Tuchel has confirmed that he will only commit his future to the club until the end of this season.

That has sparked suggestions that he would link up with his mentor Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford, with Carragher's suggestion that United should move to Tuchel sparking a feisty response from Chelsea fans on social media platforms.

Carragher didn't backtrack in his views when he spoke to Sky Sports on Monday night, after he endured an uncomfortable afternoon covering Chelsea's game against Newcastle last Sunday for the channel.

"It's fair to say that l had a few heated discussions at Stamford Bridge on Sunday," said Carragher.

"The Chelsea fans are very passionate about their club and at this moment feel like the world is attacking them, and they are defending their club. I totally get that. But l wouldn't change my opinion on it.

"And the reason l think it's a little bit hypocritical of Chelsea supporters is because if teams - such as Manchester United with the manager, or other clubs with the players - are going to take advantage of the situation that Chelsea are in right now, Chelsea have been doing that for 20 years.

"That was the big thing of Roman Abramovich coming - 'we can throw our money about and get who we want'.

"The first thing they did was go to Manchester United and take Peter Kenyon as their CEO. 'We'll go to Liverpool and take the best midfielder in Europe and destabilise that club for two summers' - they didn't get him. 'We'll get Ashley Cole, an Invincible who has won everything at Arsenal. Yeah, we'll go and get him. We get caught tapping up? Doesn't matter, we'll pay the fine'.

"England, flying at the time with Sven-Goran Eriksson. 'England manager? No, we want him as Chelsea manager. Don't worry about what he's doing with the FA, we want him and we'll pay the fine'.

"Chelsea have taken advantage of every other club in the last 20 years because of Roman Abramovich.

"So if l give an opinion on someone taking advantage of them, that is just a way of life. That's the way it may be for Chelsea and you have to accept that.

"Some of the things we've seen at Chelsea, such as closing the club shop and stopping kids from getting Mason Mount on the back of their shirts, I don't agree with that and I certainly don't want Chelsea to go to the wall.

"But, if that's my opinion of it, I certainly don't want Chelsea fans questioning that opinion next time I go there because it's exactly what they have done for the last 20 years."

It was strong stuff from Carragher, with his sentiments shared by many supporters of clubs who have looked on as Chelsea have benefitted from Abramovich's vast investment at Stamford Bridge.

Yet he suggested after the show that he "got carried away" in his on-air ranks and he also suggested on an Instagram chat that he might have gone "over the top" in his comments.

Meanwhile, Carragher's Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville offered some hope for Chelsea fans, as he insisted the club will not be allowed to go out of business.

"I agree with what Jamie said, there's no way Chelsea can go bust," he said. "The government are going to have to ease the restrictions if needs be. I can't see how a £3 billion sale can go through in the next 15, 16 days, which is apparently the amount of time Chelsea have.

"I think the government know that Chelsea Football Club, with hundreds of years of history, a fanbase behind them, an important part of the local community, cannot go bust.

"The bigger picture is football has got a big problem because I don't think it's going to be accepted anymore," he added.

"I think there will be an independent regulator put into football.

"Super League, Saudi money, Russian money, Bury, Derby, lack of sustainability, lack of real-time financial monitoring, lack of fit and proper person tests… football is absolutely coming under huge scrutiny.

"It isn't just a football problem, but football is a massive part of this country's fabric and it's going to be an issue in the next couple of years.

"I suspect if you're Abu Dhabi in Manchester, if you're Saudi Arabia in Newcastle, you're going to be doing your risk assessments as we speak, thinking 'What's going to happen?'"