View From The Sphere

Could an Usmanov takeover potentially end Wenger’s reign at Arsenal?

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Arsenal are the only club among the top four in the Premier League that is not controlled by foreign ownership. Undoubtedly, these rich billionaires investing in a club can either be a curse or a blessing, depending on whether they are in it for the money, or in it for the love of the game.

In my opinion, a Stan Kroenke takeover would be good for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger would remain in charge, but the Frenchman will unquestionably be forced to bolster the squad with more depth and experience. The 64-year-old may be an American business entrepreneur who knows very little, if not nothing about the game, but I truly believe he could do wonders for the North Londoners.

However, it has been rumored that if Alisher Usmanov, the 35th richest man in the world, was to become the new owner of Arsenal, then Wenger would consider resigning from his post. Obviously for a manager who knows the club inside and out, Wenger believes that the Russian billionaire would only be in it for the money, and consequently, Usmanov would more than likely pile up more debt for the North London club which Wenger has worked so hard on over the past 14 years.

Last month the Red & White holdings ltd confirmed that Usmanov had upped his stake to over 27%. However, Stan Kroenke still holds the majority of the clubs shares with 29.9%. This of course indicates that the Russian billionaire is steadily increasing his stake in the club and soon enough, whether we like it or not, Arsenal will be under foreign ownership…if this continues of course.

If Usmanov were to become the new owner of Arsenal, I speculate the first order of business for the Russian to attend to would be Wenger’s position at the club. I truly believe that Usmanov would force the Frenchman out of his current job due to the lack of success over the past couple of years. If this were to occur, then this would almost certainly mark the end of an era at Arsenal football club.

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9 comments

  • fowler says:

    f*** off usmanov!!!

  • WiilyG says:

    Better Usmanov than the current spineless chairman of the board.

  • AcGooner says:

    Usmanov is not Russian. And even if he was, Yankee owner is not automatically better then Russian. Look at Chelsea and manure.

  • K says:

    Usmanov is Russian AcGooner, of uzbek descent though. Anyway that does not really matter. I believe it’s time that Arsenal were taken over, need to get with the times.

  • Nelo says:

    Usmanov is russian. Like the way nasri is french, and his an algerian origin. Latest reports suggest kroenke is soon to take over the club

  • peat588 says:

    This article is horse s**t Usmanov is worth over $19bn more than Abramovich so i doubt hes in it for the money. And Arsenal and our spinless chairman need to get a backbone and relive Mr Wenger from his duties after all 3 titles in nearly 15 years and no silverwear in past 6 years is hardly good enough for a big club like Arsenal is it??? I am saying because its not good enough for Liverpool Chelsea and even Sit Alex wudnt be allowed to go that long without delivering Fact !!! Reguardless of money spent. Wenger has been a revolation for Arsenal over the years together with trophies he has revolutionised the whole club financially on an off the pitch. But now one has to question the board and their reasons for allowing faliure season after season. The club has money to spend as we are promised every season but still no real investment on the pitch. Our youth policy is second to none but we cannot rely on that alone to deliver trophies without adding qualitiy experianced players!!! The only reason Wenger remains at the helm is because he hasnt squandered money like other managers if he had he wud have went years ago the more money a manager spends the more pressure he piles on himself if he cant deliver its that simple and hes also the boards financial think tank unlike other managers Wenger has input on almost everything financial reguarding team affairs Fact !!! So what am saying is Wenger has become affraid almost to spend big incase it dosent work out for the team then he will just be adding more pressure on top of not winning trophies because as of now hes managin a top 4 team on a bottom of table budget so from the outside looking in hes a genius right?? Wrong hes been manipulative and lied to fans reguarding transfers when he has almost totall controll over transfers budgets wages ect.. so my question is this is he more valuable to Arsenal as a Manager or sitting upstairs in the boardroom??? Because i agree with some Fans who say it would be a diasaster to loose Wenger but not as a manager as a potentiall board member.. So an Usmanov takeover might not be such a bad idea after all with his wealth he could affoard to buy out Arsenal atleast 15 times over and we certainly do need a change of direction on an off the pitch providing his credentials and intentions are good for our club then I would welcome an Usmanov takeover as a kronkee takeover we wudnt notice it for the simple reason that his ideas are the boards ideas ie let Wenger run the club when his job is to manage an not be distracted by the financial goings on in the club so in a nutshell the loss of focus by Wenger and the board has hindered us moving forward on the pitch and untill this is rectified or removed and changed then the only change we are likely to see is us slipping outside the top four in the commimg years due to the fact Man city, Spurs and Liverpool are outspending us and or soon will be knocking on the door.

  • arsif says:

    stop your childish cries arsenal needs to compete with the likes of Manchester clubs we don’t have to think of wenger fast when it comes to taking over of the club let the rich Russian take over

  • wellingooner says:

    I

  • wellingooner says:

    I’d much prefer to have Usmanov. Every club Kroenke takes over fails sooner or later. He just wants the money, not the trophies. Usmanov and Dein need to come in, Kroenke and Gazidis can piss off.

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