Manchester United to Nice, Huddersfield Town to Sacramento Republic, why franchise football will never work - Stuart Rayner comment

Huddersfield Town are set to become the latest club owned by someone who already has one, with Kevin M Nagle, chairman of Sacramento Republic, going through Football League checks.Multi-club ownership is becoming fashionable.

If Huddersfield and Sacramento are run as separate entities, fair enough. The Terriers badly need new owners to provide direction and funding, just as Doncaster Rovers - part of the Club Doncaster sporting group - feel like they are.

But in an increasingly joined-up world, having clubs owned by the same people raises problems, perceived or real.

Jesse Marsch brazenly jumped from coach of New York Red Bulls to Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig, clubs close enough in ability for the pathway to be viable and the conflicts of interest to be genuine.

If Salzburg needed a win to get out of their Champions League group and opponents Leipzig were already through, there would be more than a few eyebrows raised if they got it.Sheffield United sit at the head of United World - which includes Beerschot, Chateauroux, Al Hilal United and Kerala United.

The Pacific Group, whose influence at Barnsley seems to be on the wane, also have stakes in Esbjerg, Nancy, Oostende, Thun, Den Bosch, Kaiserslauten and GKS Tychy.

Sharing ideas between clubs who are not rivals can be positive, although the Blades seem so far removed from their sisters you wonder how useful it is.

But nobody wants their club to only exist to serve someone else's, having loan players foisted on them, seeing prized assets picked off by the big brother.

Watford are under investigation for the sale of Hassane Kamara to sister club Udinese. The Hornets bought Kamara in one window for £3.6m, sold him in the next for £16.9m and immediately took him back on loan. They made a £13.3m profit on a player who never left.

It feels like a financial fair play scam.

Some openly use sister clubs to get around work permit regulations.

The worry is always that some clubs are so desperate for investment they do not stop to ask where it is coming from.

How many Doncaster fans would turn their nose up at becoming a satellite club for a European side if it meant getting rid of the current ownership?

Manchester United's do not seem too fussed at the Glazers selling to Nice's owner or a Qatari with strong links to Paris Saint-Germain's backers.

It needs a strong governing body. Instead, President Aleksander Ceferin hinted UEFA's rules might be relaxed - and they have already waved through Salzburg v Leipzig in the Champions League on the pretext that they were run by different people.

Identity matters in English football, whether clubs are worldwide names or non-league strugglers. None should be relegated to the status of Liverpool B or Bayern Munich C, pawns in proxy wars between Europe's elite.