A report in today’s Sunday Telegraph suggests that Arsenal may be the subject of a takeover bid from a middle-eastern consortium.
According to leaked information, the party in question would be willing to make a cash offer to the main shareholders, wipe out the club’s debt, provide funds for transfers and, we imagine, give every fan a trampoline or a lightsaber.
A source told the Telegraph, “Arsenal is at a pivotal position at the moment. The fear is that the club is facing a cycle of decline like Liverpool. From our point of view it is the perfect moment to make this bid because at this moment in time you can still genuinely justify this extraordinary valuation on the club.
“We will not bid for Arsenal if they go into decline. Kroenke and Usmanov will not get this kind of valuation if Arsenal do not succeed and will not get this kind of valuation ever again. We think that bidding now is the key because it is going to give every shareholder maximum value. We are giving them peak valuation.
“The amount of capital required to pump into Arsenal to make it competitive within England, Europe and the world means that the valuation cannot go any higher. ”
Stan Kroenke is the majority shareholder, with 66.83% while Alisher Usmanov’s Red and White group hold 29.96%. Neither man is particularly well liked, for various reasons, and there’s no doubt both would make significant profits should they decide to sell.
It remains to be seen how much veracity there is to these reports, and the quotes read like they’ve been monitoring people on Twitter and saying what they think people want to hear.
It’s clear Arsenal would be a jewel in anybody’s crown. Let’s face it, if people are prepared to spend hundreds of millions on Man City then a club like Arsenal would be genuinely attractive.
Time will tell but we’re not holding our breath.
Yikes
‘Leaked’ on the day of the NLD. wow these Spurs fans will do anything to try and win.
On a serious note, I HATE when politics interferes with football! So cheap, lazy and only inteded to harm!
Kroenke can fuck right off. I truly detest that cunt (and slimy Gazidis).
No thanks.
I want the Arsenal I began supporting in the 70’s to remain a football club, and not become a rich man’s subbuteo set.
I’m happy with the club’s policy of only spending what they earn…although it would be nice if they actually did that once in a while.
[Reposted from my post on the Telegraph site]
I agree.
Also it would leave Arsene fuming. He has bust a gut keeping the financials stable. We’ll see how strong willed the shareholders are.
But why are we being put into the position where we have to choose one extreme or the other? Either making a huge profit off selling our best 2 players every summer (that goes nowhere, some suggest in Kroenke’s pocket), or get bought by an oil consortium and artificially compete? Why is there no middle position? As much as I hate to say it, why can we not just “slightly” overspend like that Levy cunt in the ghetto next door?
You can check the accounts and see for yourself that Kroenke doesn’t put the money in his pocket.
Stadii, like everything come at a price or alter your state of being. If all the players we lost are the cost, then so be it.
The problem is Kronke himself has little if any interest in Arsenal football club. He has no idea about what English fans and football is about. We can say what we like about billionaire playthings, but the these people put their money where their mouth is and they seem to genuinely love football.
If they genuinely love football why are they so intent on ruining it? I’m no fan of Kronke and Arsenal have money they should be spending but what he is doing shows more respect for the game of football than any of those sugar daddies. They love the prestige. The club is a trophy and they pay whatever they have to to make them successful as they feel they are a reflection on them – there is no honour or integrity in what they do – and it certainly isn’t down to a love for the game, the club or… Read more »
Well, we’ve seen the long term implications on offer at the Bridge recently, players running riot and no continuity due to their owner getting restless every time a manager fails to win 90 consecutive games in his first fortnight in charge.
Not to say that a little more money wouldn’t be welcome but if the price is turning into Chelsea 6 years down the line, I agree that it’s thanks, but no thanks.
Have to agree, this just is not Arsenal. We just don’t work that way. In practical terms: They offer to invest hugely in the team when FFP probably makes it impossible They make vague promises that are impossible to fulfill like improve atmosphere; how exectly? Bus in different fans? They want to clear our debts AFTER we’ve worked most of them off. We have already made all of the improvements that FFP allows. It just feels suspicious that they want to invest now when we are getting less and less likely to need a benefactor, The ‘Now or Never’ and… Read more »
Spot on! We have been succesful before and it was by doing it our way. Whenever we won things it was done with flair and a way only recognisable as the Arsenal way. Trade that for trophies…. No thanks, im fine waiting.
you mean… waiting in..
8 years?
wow..
Without a shadow of doubt. I love this team for mote than judt their trophy cabinet.
Without a shadow of doubt. I love this club for mote than judt their trophy cabinet.
Refreshing view Aero
I agree, Arsenal is in my blood and modifying to our already hefty trophy cabinet to fill it with whorish oil trophies isn’t ma thang. Instant gratification isn’t as great as the media hype it up to be.
Would you rather build up, with years of hard work, to the glorious Invincibles or spunk a shit load of money Football Manager style to win a couple things and end up as Chelsea?
Oo to, oo to be…
A whole 8 years? When I were a lad…. In all seriousness we’ve had a rough time recently, but do we seriously want to sell our soul at the point things should get better? It could be worse. In a topical bit of perspective, we could be our neighbours. Any of their fans who has seen them win the league is near retirement age. They have had to watch us win 3 doubles since they won the league. Hell, they’ve had to sit there and watch us win the league twice at their dump. A fan of theirs would have… Read more »
“The amount of capital required to pump into Arsenal to make it competitive within England, Europe and the world means that the valuation cannot go any higher.” I know we haven’t been that good lately but really the club itself already has enough money to invest to be ‘competitive’ so we’d rather do without this oil money. Kroenke only sees Arsenal as an investment, but atleast he doesn’t take money out or pump insane amounts in. He lets those in charge who know football to run things, which is a good strategy although we don’t always agree with this particular… Read more »
Load of tosh! NEXT…..
And so it begins…..
yeah i can’t see this happening in the slightest
I hope this is never gonna happen. Should keep going our own way.
Downwards? People can stick their head in the sand all the like. We are in a decline. We spent most a decade picking up trophies in the league and FA cup, we then spent most of a decade winning nothing and sliding down from 1st place to finishing in the top 4. We are now beginning to be caught up, so to speak and I fear we’ll spend the next decade scrapping for 4th place. I hate the idea of a sugar daddy, because we, as a club, have been proud that we don’t need outside backing. But we’re run… Read more »
Isn’t asking for the “two arseholes” to take money from their pocket into the club what sugar daddy mentality is defined as?
Please don’t say “war chest”. You sound like a tabloid newspaper.
EXCLUSIVE!!!
Chili2001 “SLAMS” Swish!!!
Yeah, he ‘slammed’ me by not replying to my points whatsoever… did you understand what I mean when I used ‘war chest’ instead of ‘transfer budget’? Oh you did? Good, now move on.
now we can pay diaby the 300k per week to make him the richest non playing footballer in the world
It’s inevitable
Hear me out guys!
Lets imagine you’re a multi billionaire, which at some point we’ve all imagine! And you’re an Arsenal fan with billions at your disposal, are u telling me you wouldn’t want to takeover or at least invest in your club?!?
We all know because of our success with Arsene, players like Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira etc & our style of play we attracted a lot of foreign fans.
We are an attractive club with huge potential & lets be honest if Keonke receives that bid, he would sell!
Multi-billionaires can’t be fans. They’re simply not the kind of people that can emotionally invest in a club, they make money and focus on that, then spend it for their amusement.
Honest fan who happens to have billions doesnt scare me =)
But bored billionaire pig who lost touch with the real world years ago, possibly inherited all of it, and decided he wanted to have his own football club because other billionaires did too.
Well.. how do you know which one its gonna be. =)
And if the price is right, Our Stan will not be the white knight not to sell us out.
Tis a scary world we live in =).
I rather we as a club remain trophyless for the next century if it means we retain our values and traditions rather than joining the ranks of the souless moneyed-class.
Anyone know if this report is even verified or is not an attempt at mind games by the scum before arguably the biggest game of both our seasons?
If it is legitimate I do not welcome any potential investors that would risks unsettling the club in order to gain business leverage.
Regardless, Insh’Allah Arsenal Football Club will never become the plaything of rich men!
I agree, I won’t be happy if they decide to change the famous traditional name of our stadium. I loved that Arsenal retained their values for that.
It worries me that you get such a negative rating for that tongue in cheek post. It worries me because that many fans don’t already see that we are already a toy to billionaires. You want a traditional Arsenal? That’s fine, but don’t overlook the clear recent changes that we have made that have been in the direction towards oil money. For those who don’t understand about the changes to our tradition, we sold our stadium naming rights, you’re now paying top of the world prices for your seat, you’re also paying a fiver for a hot dog. We’re owned… Read more »
This is a response to Swish but I can’t seem to reply to his post. You are right football has become so money driven it is a little unrecognisable to the traditions of the game but that is something that happened to the game rather than an individual club. People going on about the naming rights – it was a new stadium it had no ‘famous traditional name’. Its a shame that clubs now do this sort of thing but its even more necessary when you are trying to keep up with unlimited spending whilst remaining sustainable. The idea that… Read more »
I read that story in the morning just to see it emerged from Sun so wont trust it. Anyway if that happens its not gonna benefit us much because of Ffp.Just felt strange why would someone who is intrested in buying SK shares say so much about Stan and the club inefficiencies to secure a trophy. Its just seems like someone planted a story which has been put together by taking into all the views of Arsenal fans who have felt something is wrong somewhere, eg; lowering ticket prices, keeping our main players, perhaps even change of manager, just seems… Read more »
Well those 8 years of preparing for ffp and paying off the stadium looks like good time spent now…. I just can’t wait until Jenks is kicked out for only costing a million, and overpriced flavour of the months come in for him just like the scumbags we have only just got rid of, like adebayeor, nasri and rvp. and then we get to say we bought our trophies like city, chelsea and united. rather than winning them like we always have. but i suppose it doesn’t matter to some people who just want trophies instantly and bleet on about… Read more »
Glass half empty type of person!
What if the investment means players like Jack, Ox get to fulfil their potential by playing with better players & thus improve?!?
It wouldn’t bother me if we start winning cos we invested in the team instead of selling our best players.
Dafuq would we take this offer on the eve of FFP coming in when we’ve held out for all these years. The influence of sugar daddies will largely be negated by FPP and the only ppl to benefit from any possible take over would be the new owners.
Better the devil you know? I am consistently pissed off with this board and wish dein would return but very uneasy about being an oil club… two things spring to mind.
1. This story is almost certainly bollocks.
2. There’s less than fuck all I can do about it so shan’t bother myself worrying about it.
I really hope this is true. We’re naive to think we can compete at the highest level without having as deep pockets as the other big clubs. New ownership and management would be greatly received, in my opinion.
The club and wenger have worked for years so as to make arsenal a self sustaining club. If this happened now it would ruin all the efforts taken in these 10 years or so. Also I personally dont want to see our club turning into another man city or psg.
Yes and it would work if:
1. We remained competitive to prove that the model worked. Which didn’t happen because:
2. The playing field has drastically changed in the last 10 years.
Do we carry on sticking to our beliefs that have taken us from 1st to 4th or 5th, or do we adapt to the times?
You mean the ten years or so we have won fuck all
@parker
10 years ago we went on an unbeaten run the likes of which will never be seen again, and we won the most unique trophy in existence, the golden premier league trophy. so please don’t go with all of the biased media and say it’s been a decade since we won a trophy.
@Swish you are starting to sound like a Liverpool fan, bleating on about our history.
I am one who is most proud of our history, but it would be nice if we had something more current to speak about.
On another note, its time to watch the Gunners maul the Spuds and their chimpanzee.
COYG!!!
We’re nowhere near the dross that is Liverpool, but we’re heading in that direction. It’s been close to 9 years since we were actually competing for the top spot.
We’re close to reaching the 80’s barren spell.
To those saying we shouldn’t become a plaything of a rich man – we already are!
We sold our soul to the current shower a few years ago. Problem is we’ve a rich man who doesn’t put anything in – worst type of owner.
No idea if this is genuine or a load of crap, sounds a bit too good to be true though.
How are Arsenal Kroenke’s plaything? He can hardly be accused of interfering in team affairs, can he?
Arsenal are just a business deal to him.
True, plaything is the wrong word but we are owned by a billionaire (well near 70% owned).No difference between Middle Eastern or American owners.
There’s a huge difference between someone who wants the club run like a business, and one who says, ‘Look guys, I just bought you Shevchenko/Torres. Who cares if he’s struggling? I always pick him on FIFA…so play him.’
A bit like saying there’s a huge difference between being Champions and finishing 4th or 5th, because thats where Kroenke’s ‘business’ deal has taken us.
Kroenke didn’t get a controlling stake in the club until 2010.
Dein put Kroenke and Usmanov together in 2006.
So Kroenke has been involved with Arsenal since we last won a trophy. He spent the time between 2006-2010 sorting out an ownership deal. Still want to pretend he has no relation to our recent decline?
So nothing else happened in 2006 that had a major effect on the finances then?
Yeah, we moved into a new stadium that we started paying for in 2000.
That’s being deliberately disingenuous, as the funding wasn’t even in place until 2004.
How so? We started plans (including financial plans) for the Emirates stadium in 2000. We sold the naming rights in about 2004. If anything, DDD was being disingenuous by suggesting that our move to the stadium in 2006 was the reason for a lack of money. My point still stands, we were spending money on the team 2 years prior to the move to the Emirates. Two years of trophies I might add. 2006 saw our first dealings with Kroenke and Usmanov which led to boardroom battles, financial squeezing and the departure of the last board member who actually gave… Read more »
Swish is just full of it.
The problem I have with Silent Stan as the owner is that his teams in the US are middling, entertaining enough to fill seats but not talented enough to win championships. I don’t particularly care that he doesn’t talk in public or hang around the club, most owners just make arses of themselves and their club anyway (see Chelsea). It seems to me however that having richer owners who actually care about football in general and Arsenal in particular is better than an uncaring American and a shady Uzbekistani (I think I got that right). We’re already the plaything of… Read more »
*Uzbek
I don’t think the timing of this statement is a coincidence, right before the scum? Hardly! No, make no mistake they do not care about Arsenal but achieving ownership over us (the supporters) and the club as a whole and they are already threatening firings without revealing their identities!
…
Chelsea is Roman’s plaything. We aren’t Stan’s. The difference is that Stan’s empire is a sporting empire, not black gold. And the difference between Arsenal and his other assets, and I hope Stan realises this soon, is that if the asset isn’t successful – it can be disasterous. American franchises don’t need to be constantly competitive as they don’t have the threat of relegation. Also, while money does influence their game, it is not to the extent that it is in European football. They have draft systems and salary caps. To be successful in European football, you need to constantly… Read more »
The long hand of David Dein, the Russian is coming.
This story is absolute Bull Shit!! It’s so clearly the figment of a mad mans imagination.
Surely with the advent of financial fair play around the corner, all they can really do is wipe out the debt? Maybe put a few quid to players, but not man city, chelsea type cash. Then i was wondering, the money we’ve got in reserve at the moment. Yep it’s frustrating that we’ve not spent much of it, but when FFP comes in surely that will help level out the playing field, with clubs less likely to be able to pay massive fees. How many clubs have got that kind of cash in reserve? That moneys going to go a… Read more »
You’ve really bought into this FFP bullshit haven’t you Scobbit?!?
Clubs will find & have already found loopholes that they can exploit, so i dont think we can afford to put all our eggs in that basket!!
So it’s probably gonna take a bit of time to get right, but it’s a step in the right direction. Man Citys deal with Etihad, is definitely an abuse. What with there not being any strict rules on the types of deals that are allowed to be done, and there may be some recrimination in that regard. It is stupid that the owners should be allowed to sponsor themselves however much they want, hardly Financial Fair Play. We’ll have to wait and see what happens there to see if they get away with it. There will always be ways of… Read more »
Sounds like utter tripe to me and is probably a Spud hack that’s made this up to try and disrupt the players and fans before our trip to Shite Hart Lane.
On a different topic, I hope we hear a loud chant of “Gareth Bale’s got a monkeys head” today. Payback for Keown.
Right before the derby? I smell a rat. With that line about valuation falling if we go into a cycle of decline, its clearly usmanov propaganda
For Shareholders this £22,501 per share will turn some heads. For a disinterested investor like Kronke this is an amazing return on his investment.
100% horseshit, why would us not performing well in the near future impact on any potential bid, when the supposed buyers acknowledge the reasons for our decline in the first place?
I can see Kroenke selling, (good fuckin’ riddance, just fuck off already), not Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov has enough money. Cheaper tickets? BRING BACK STANDING ROOM instead. Bring back standing room. Bring back standing room. Bring back standing room. ad infinitum. A squiilion quid and Wenger still won’t attend to any defensive issues anyway and we will continue conceding ridiculous goals against Doncaster Rovers, Grimsby Town and whoever else is able to muster eleven players and a few substitutes. I am not sure if I would like The Arsenal to become Manc City 2.0, but I would prefer that Kroenke buggers… Read more »
[…] other news, there’s a report in today’s Telegraph suggesting we may be the subject of a big offer from a Middle East consortium who buy out the current shareholders, pay off our debts, make all the […]
what’s the story jackanory?
Sounds like some Spuds dressing themselves in their mums bed linen and talking to some journalists in a tea house to create some Arsenal unrest before the NLD. I call BS.
Anything better than Kroenke is welcome…
Lightsabers? I’m in
Having rejected the idea of clause free billions on offer from the Uzbeki. I doubt the board are so ready to change their collective mind on the basis of where the money comes from
Oh God, please let this happen. This rubbish about Selft-sustenance angers me. Its how the market right now. Change or be left behind.
“……give every fan a trampoline or a lightsaber”.
They can go f@ck themselves. I’m holding out for a hover board……….
[…] other news, there’s a report in today’s Telegraph suggesting we may be the subject of a big offer from a Middle East consortium who buy out the current shareholders, pay off our debts, make all the […]
A hover board? They’re not even real – remember, Marty comes back from the future with it, ergo, it doesn’t exist yet. I’ll take the light saber please.
Not real? You’ll be telling me this “bid” is not real next.
And that would be ridiculous……,
If the story is true, then all well and good. I have no love of the Stan, his son, or the other old men on the board who are allowing Arsenal to rot. There is no genuine ambition in the club and that comes from the top.
People say they want the board replaced. How else, exactly, is that going to happen without someone new in charge? And how does this new person (or consortium) get to be in charge without shelling out a lot of money?
Exactly.
I think people genuinely believe the board will leave of their own accord without being replaced. The board will ONLY leave when they get a big fat paycheck and get replaced by money.
This is business, Arsenal means something completely different to these people that we don’t connect with. They are in it for money, Arsenal keeps their salaries flowing and being bumped up, regardless of the on pitch antics. A new board is what we all want, a board with ambition and a understanding of our tradition. Yet one partly presents itself, we all refuse the idea?
Sugar Daddy? No thanks
As opposed to a caring father being kicked out of the house for trying to remortage the house, a grandfather with alzheimer’s asking who are you every year when meeting him and an American stepdad who is never there and doesn’t do anything to help?
Yes please.
I read your posts, Swish. You can go back to sucking the sugar daddy now.
I read your posts, you can stop sucking me now.
So is this story true?
Im personally in two minds i feel like we are becoming the very thing we have hated and thats City and Chelsea.
I can’t figure out how a sp*rs fan was clever enough to open the [email protected] account and send this message to the Telegraph.
If it’s true !! It would be nice to see the stadium debt paid off at a stroke, but apart from that i can’t see any other real advantages of a big money investment. We would not be able to spend £300 million on players because we would not have created that money ourselves (i think that’s how FFP works), so regarding a massive cash injection i think we’ve probably missed the boat.
Saying that, i also think £350 million profit, would convince silent Stan to sell.
This is a seriously tempting offer for both the fans and the shareholders… But fuck it, we have come too far just to sell our souls now. Only a year before 2014. Plus, we would be total hypocrites if we started spending hundreds of millions of oil money. I still genuinely believe that Arsenal will come out on top using our own resources.
(And, there’s no fun in buying trophies.)
Hopefully this is true and they sack Wenger!
Ill fucking sack you!! with my left and right sacks
Going through the comments, I get the feeling that I am missing. So, please correct me if I am wrong here.. If this report has any truth behind it, a middle east based consortiumis trying to buy shares held by Kroneke and Usmanov. I dont see where does remarks like “Arsenal selling out” comes from. Neither of Kroenke or Usmanov are here because of their love for Arsenal. They are businessmen and of they get enough profit ouot of it, they will sell shares that they hold. An investment from Middle east need no always go the man city way,… Read more »
Totally agree with ur view, i absolutely hate the way shity and chelski are ruining the modern game, but things like buying up our debt and giving us some clear direction on board level would do wonders in my opinion.
I like bayerns system whereby fans are encouraged to own their club and contribute to the decision making process; from transfers to ticket prices.
A democracy not a dictatorship.
[…] 来源:[Arseblog News] […]
If this is what you want then go support oil city.
You all weren’t bothered when Fizman put 50 mill into the club in the 90’s were you?Thats the equivalent of 150 mill in todays football world.Weren’t complaining when that money bought Bergkamp and secured the famous back 4 who were going to leave due to poor wages were you?.Didn’t hear you all trilling about financial doping then.Well i hope these Arabs buy Spurs;you can all talk about how Arsenal do things the right way while we languish in mid table.Bet none of you fuckers even go anyway.Morons.
Isn’t FFP going to stop clubs spending loads of money?Thats what wenger and Gazidis have told us,so i don’t know why you are all getting your knickers in a twist. If the stadium debt is paid off we would have an extra 20 mill a season to spend on players.The manager SHOULD be accountable for results,unless you are all happy to see more 8.2’s,cup defeats to lower league sides,CL humiliations and losses to Spurs.Who doesn’t want lower ticket prices and a better atmosphere? Are you Arsenal fans or are you Wenger fans? You AKB’s are scared the old wrinkly will… Read more »
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