According to Inside World Football, Alisher Usmanov is in the running to become majority shareholder at Belgian side Anderlecht.
The Brussels outfit are on the lookout for a new owner and are currently weighing up proposals from a number of interested parties. It is said that a 75% stake would cost around €80 million.
The report includes a quote from a spokesman for Usmanov’s company USM Holdings which states:
“Mr. Usmanov has received various proposals, including a suggestion regarding the acquisition of RSC Anderlecht, but no decision has been made. Mr. Usmanov remains a loyal and dedicated fan and shareholder of Arsenal.”
A statement from Anderlecht reads: “R.S.C. Anderlecht is carefully considering all offers. They are judged by the added value [they provide] for the club and there is a clear benchmark: RSCA must become better in the long term. RSCA will only communicate if there is an official agreement. The club refrains from all further comment.”
While rules in England ban an owner or director from having an interest in another English club (see the furore over Usmanov’s link with Everton), there’s nothing stopping him from retaining his Arsenal shareholding and investing in a club elsewhere on the continent.
UEFA’s Article 5 rule would kick in if both clubs qualified for either the Champions League or Europa League – the one with the lower UEFA coefficient would not be allowed to compete.
Even then, as evidenced by a recent decision by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body which allowed RB Leipzig and FC Salzburg to compete in this season’s Champions League despite both being owned by Red Bull, there seems to be some wiggle room.
Of course, Usmanov may be weighing up selling his Arsenal stake and moving his interest to Belgium in totality. That said, it seems unlikely given he’s repeatedly made clear he has no intention of giving up his stake at the Emirates, even without a position on the board.
Interesting, I’m sure he would have to have an unofficial confirmation that anderlecht would be allowed into the champions before he buys them.
Not fussed if he sells up just so long as he sells to someone other than kroenke.
Couldn’t they send the proposal to Kroenke instead? Tell him that the Belgian league is the next league to boom and that there is a huge tv deal on its way? You never know mannnn…
Belgian waffle.
Neymar is worth 2 Anderlechts.
Personally I wish he buys it. Don’t want Stan owning us alone but I’d be interested to see what he can do .
Also if only we could get another PSG/ city in a few more countries then it would be interesting watching the champions league again. Sometimes watching United, benfica, Basle and CSKA doesn’t interest me.
For some selfish reason I hope we get more clubs in the lesser European leagues step up to city level. Then I’d look forward to see how we compete with the real best
Yes, that’s all we need is more mega rich clubs spending stupid money on players.
How about loaning some Arsenal youngsters to Anderlecht?
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Been hearing rumours that Usmanov, Henry & Flamini are getting their heads together to oust Kronke?…
About Leipzig and Salzburg, it is known that rb have them legally owned by “some people”, as German rules forbid companies owning football clubs.
Salzburg is Austrian, not German..
RB Leipzig, see their Wiki page for details.