Ex-England defender Ryan Bertrand, of French-Ivorian heritage, is spearheading an £87m minority investment proposal for League One's AFC Wimbledon.
Ryan Bertrand, the former England left-back of French-Ivorian heritage, is stepping off the pitch and into the boardroom. He is leading a consortium that has tabled an £87m minority investment proposal for League One side AFC Wimbledon, a bold move for a player who built his name at the top level of English football.
The proposal would see the group take a minority stake in the club rather than seizing full control. That matters at Wimbledon, a club with a proud supporter-led identity, born from fan determination and shaped by a community that has fought hard for its independence. Any deal would need to respect that heritage while bringing in fresh capital.
Bertrand's playing résumé gives the bid real weight. He lifted the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012 and earned England caps, and he has long been regarded as a smart, professional voice in the dressing room. Now he is taking that experience into the business side of the game, and the diaspora footballing world will be watching closely.
For now this is a proposal, not a done deal, and plenty of questions remain over how talks progress and what the stakeholders decide. But the scale of the figure alone sends a message: a former Premier League and European champion believes League One's Wimbledon is worth a serious, long-term bet.
