Red and White, the holding company controlled by Alisher Usmanov and his business associate Farhad Moshiri, have raised their stake in the total equity of Arsenal Holdings PLC to more than 30 percent, it was announced this afternoon.
The timing of the announcement, coming on the day the Arsenal board faced supporters at the club’s AGM, appears to be the Uzbek oligarch’s mischievous attempt to earn himself a few headlines despite the fact his accumulation of added shares means little.
Prior to the start of last season owning 30 percent of Arsenal’s shares would have entitled Usmanov to full access to the club’s finances, and thus the opportunity to publicly pick over every spent penny, however, the Premier League re-wrote their rules on the matter and as such his latest move means diddly-squat.
So why has he bothered? We’re not really sure. Perhaps just an otiose retort to the current board’s decision to again dodge suggestions the Moscow-based tycoon could join them in the Emirates corridors of power.
It’s hard to imagine Stan Kroenke losing any sleep.
Usmanov > Kroenke
Is that you Payton???
troll || spurd || cunt
Usmanov is indeed larger than Kroenke
Spud + Cunt = Spunt
Gundogunner is most likely a Spunt.
Just as things are looking up something has to disrupt our club!
Explain ho
It’s the cold war again, but this time instead of Berlin it’s Arsenal Football Club
Surely such news wont affect our players
I’d be surprised if half of them even knew who Usmanov is… could you imagine Frimpong saying his name.
A lot of money is dirty, but I really don’t like the money of Russian oligarchs.
This. A thousand times this. The “Arsenal is classy” tradition still means something – maybe not much, but something. Fueling transfers with Usmanov’s fortunes would destroy that tradition, at least in my mind.
I understand where you’re coming from, but we built our stadium using bank loans.
And as we all know, Banks aren’t exactly the epitome of morality!!!!
So i never understand the moral high ground in resisting Usmanov.
Usmanov’s money is not dirtier or cleaner than the bank loan we used to build the Emirates.
if we think about its probably even dirtier.
Mate you cant be serious? I am not sure if you or anyone you know have ever made a LARGE investment before, but that’s pretty much how the world works. You expected Arsenal to save up the 500+ odd mill to build the stadium? Or seek out a dodgy loan shark in a dark alley in North London for the money? Had the club handed over the reigns and/or financially depended on a sugar daddy for our investments would have been the definition of SELLING OUT in my books, and resisting those funds are what make our great club the… Read more »
Usmanov is a small boy.
Naija peeps I hail una
Who cares …just get us trophies and make Arsenal FC fans happy…for a very very long. Time..keep Arsene and keep ahead of all london and manchester rivals…COYG..#freeparkchuyoung
This must rank right up there for Stan, along with meeting the head of a fan group?
He looks like he’s about to say
“Meeester Bond, I’m going to haaave to Keeeeel you”.
*eeeeeat you
Usmanov loves Arsenal.
And we are supposed to care about an obese man utd cunt why?
No doubt he’s looking at our new income streams (Puma, etc) and licking his fat, bloodsucking lips at the thought of declaring himself a dividend if he were the majority owner.
We don’t need sleezy Russian oligarchs.
Stan better watch his food at the AGM to make sure no one drops some polonium in it.
pretty sure hes not russian
Who cares as to who has the largest share. Pls give us back our lost glory! #NorthLondonIsRed
WENGA SIGN HIM HES BIG
Alisher usmanov coming close into d arsenal boardroom for me is a step n way forward for the gunners,its been a dream come true for me because the arsenal can now be in the elites of the big spenders that couldn’t be sidelined by any other football team,I give him thumbs up coz it will go in the gunners favour
Until he takes dividends and all that extra commercial income disappears…..
I would have my money on Stan taking dividends before Usmanov. The guy is a billionaire, I don’t imagine why he would feel the need to.
I don’t think he takes a dividend on his other sports clubs and he’s owned them much longer than he’s been involved with us.
Or does someone else actually know different (rather than guessing)?
And Stan is a billionaire as well.
Yeah Stan is a billionaire, sorry, I meant this more in the sense if one thinks Usmanov may take dividends then why not Stan? I am very anti-Usmanov, but I don’t think the taking of dividends would be an issue with either.
It doesn’t surprise me that the kind of person who thinks Usmanov is a good idea can’t even spell “the” and “in”.
Actually, most of today’s comments on this topic are ignorant.
Giroud said it will take a yard off his pace just thinking about that 30%. Theo said how will we tell?
I saw this blog and right underneath it said “the end of Britain”. I found that slightly amusing
There’s no reason to be spiteful or extra-supportive towards Kroenke or Usmanov. A slightly more balanced blog post would have been better.
Why is everyone so concerned about a possible Usmanov takeover? We are already owned by Americans.
If Obama is cool with him ( see picture behind his right shoulder ) he can’t be all bad, huh?
isnt that putin? 🙂
“otiose”?? Really??? Arseblog u r one Thesaurus toting MoFo! 😉
“It’s hard to imagine Stan Kroenke losing any sleep” So you’ve decided that you really do love Kronke after all – Er ? Let’s hope his pockets are as deep as Hill-Wood’s were when it comes to buying the drinks. He was ‘Silent Stan’ when we were losing players and losing matches. Now – bold as brass – up he pops to tell us all how wonderful the world is. And yes I am well aware of Usmanov’s background. But that doesn’t make your new boyfriend any less of a Yankee shyster. Don’t be a mug. If things go belly… Read more »
Didn’t Usmanov pop up to tell us everything was shit under everyone else but him last season? It’s all PR
That’s a really unpleasant message, it’s like a giant doo-doo stain on the comment section from Usmanov after eating an extra large Dominos pizza.
you know blogs didn’t write this one.. It was arseblogs very own news hound
Got to admit, the chest thumping from Ian is just dreadful. Just shutup. Arsenal is still holding out because of Wenger, not because of the brilliance of cardboard Stan’s masterful leadership.
What a stupid, snide comment. Suggesting Kroenke won’t lose sleep is hardly an admission of love for him. Simply a fact, because he won’t.
“New boyfriend” – what are you, 10 years old? Grow up.
Maybe his boyfriend left him for someone else and so he’s a little upset and is projecting….
Don’t know about u guys, but I rather have a efficient administrative American that knows how this game is played than have a Russian “Abramovich style ” changing his mind every season! … Out of the 2 billionaires I’ll stay with the Yankee !
As I’ve said before: I really can’t see just why there is so much antipathy towards Usmanov. So far we’ve won nothing under Kroenke, and Usmanov has done nothing to damage the club.
Except his wanky press releases last season….
Because your comments are usually rotten, so if you are happy with Usmanov, he must be rotten too.
What are the odds on Fatgooner being Alisher Usmanov?
Usmanov is a fat gooner, quite possibly he is Fatgooner too
Billions of pounds,
And that’s the best facebook picture he can pose?
Fatgooner,
Sorry but your memory is poor.
Remember his open letter to the board last year?
http://news.arseblog.com/2012/07/full-text-of-usmanov-letter-to-the-arsenal-board/
Aaaa, suddenly STAN is the good guy and USMANOV is the bad guy. Where are you all fans who wanted SILENT STAN out? We are doing a bit better now… And you all lick Stans’ arse. Sad… Very sad. I personally think that if we had Usmanov .. We would of been more success now, this guy is an arsenal fan. Stan is only interested in income. Usmanov with resources and Wenger with his brains and non-restricted ideas.. We would off been the best club in the world.
Guys! Gals! Everyone! You have to watch this:
http://youtu.be/ZobeeFDl88g
Look at those chins, more than a chinese phonebook.
regardless of why he’s doing it, it’s been a great investment.
Explain how exactly Usmanov has “disrupted” the club
Silent Stan did not take anything from the club and add nothing to it either. Did we stop spending after he showed up? Answer is no. We stopped spending the minute we started on the stadium project. What I do appreciate is that he leaves us alone. I do not want to see Arsenal Americanised which was the initial fear when David Dein introduced him way back. With Usmanov, we might have someone more vocal or PR savvy, but seriously we do not want to be a Red reflection of the Blue half of London. I do not think he… Read more »
Diddly-Squat…
Think you will find that Stan takes a dividend out the club each year plus he pockets the 25 grand board member bonus as for the Russian the players do know of him seeing as he goes to almost every home game and has done for the last 12 years.
He doesn’t take dividends. He’s paid a nominal £25,000 salary as a director.
As the accounts show each and every year, no dividends leave the club
You should do some research before you make stupid comments.
My mate Liam has been to almost every home game for the last 12 years but i don’t think the players know him… mind you is rather a lot slimmer so perhaps they just haven’t noticed him.
Amusing to see people saying nothing about taking money from UAE slavelords and somehow thinking they are holier than Usmanov.
Can’t help but feel those who want Usmanovs offer of instant riches and success rather shallow. The titles we have won have been born out of hard graft, shrewd judgement and talented management and boy have those victories not tasted sweeter for the wait? Yes we’ve had a fallow period – much longer than we expected – but why change the philosophy now when it worked for us before money was committed to the new stadium build, now that we have evidence of stronger financial muscle. Those who would prefer the instant gratification of feeding from a corpulent Uzbek would… Read more »
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F074398-0021,_Bonn,_Pressekonferenz_Bundestagswahlkampf,_Kohl.jpg
Look alike?
I’m confused about all the comments on here. The way I see it is that Arsene Wenger is the best manager in the premiership, and the only reason why we don’t consistently come top or win trophies is because of lack of funds. So you would think that the choice would be between having an owner who helps with the money situation, or being a free club with no owner restrictions, but less money. Both have their pluses and minuses, however with Stan Kronke, we get none of the pluses and all of the minuses – being owned with no… Read more »