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Reasons Why Alisher Usmanov Taking Over Arsenal Will Benefit The Club

In this era when take over of clubs has gone viral, Arsenal remains one of the few clubs stable financially but without an owner with full ownership. American billionaire Stan Kroenke is the largest shareholder with over 62.89% of the club’s shares and is closely followed by Russian steel magnate Alisher Usmanov who recently hiked his holdings in the club to 30%.
The tussle for the soul of the club has been on for a while with the current board preferring the American while Dein and company back the Russian. Kroenke despite his enormous wealth, has refused to back Wenger in the transfer market and in the negotiation of new contracts. Something that was key in the exit of former captain Van Persie. When the Dutchman announced he wasn’t going to extend his Arsenal contract, Usmanov also released a statement blasting the Kroenke leadership, questioning the intentions of the American towards the club and ambitions of the board.
Usmanov has vowed to back Wenger in the transfer market with adequate cash so that the Gunners can land top players like other top clubs, also help provide pay packets that would convince our players to stay put rather than opting for a move elsewhere owing to extra thousands of pounds on offer there. In recent times, Arsenal have lost Adebayor, Nasri, Clichy, Van Persie, Song to the rigid club’s wage bill while Walcott might also be joining the rebel band. If Usmanov succeeds in wrestling the control of the club from silent Stan, what does it portend for the club?
Usmanov’s control would almost certainly mark the return of English Mr. Fix It David Dein. Whether or not we admit it, Arsenal have missed the Dein’s magic since his unceremonious exit from the club both in the acquisition of players, contractual negotiations and English football politics. Gazidis isn’t a match for him.
Why Usmanov might come off as someone desperate to see the club return to glory days, there are insinuations in some quarters that he could turn out to be another Abrahimovic who would hire and fire at will or someone that would erode the age long values of the club. Also, there are chances that he might plunge the club into debt like Glazer did Manchester United. I believe these assumptions are wide off the mark. For one, the Russian billionaire had reiterated on several occasions that he believes in Wenger and his style play, hence, his job is safe under his reign. Every man is the architect of his own destiny, it is unfair to assume Alisher would be another Roman. He has his own course to chat, they might both be Russians but might just not think alike. Neither does he need to lend money to acquire Arsenal because according to the Forbes list, he is the 28th World’s richest man with an estimated fortune of US$18.1 billion and with such fortune, he does not need to lend to acquire us, neither does he need to borrow to back us in the transfer market. He does not need to spend tons of money to make the Gunners true world beaters because in Wenger he has an intelligent manager who has wide scouting network and does not buy haphazardly.
My grouse against Kroenke is not his taciturnity (he is called Silent Stan) but his refusal to splash the cash. Under his carefree watch, the club have lost key players owing to the inability of the board to meet the wage demands. At his takeover of the Gunners, he promised the fans that Arsenal would soon win trophies but we are yet to win the smallest Carling Cup. But how can we win when we continue loosing key players every summer due to his refusal to back the club financially. I don’t want an owner by title but one by action. The American might be rich but certainly not as rich as the Russian, Kroenke is rated by Forbes as having an estimated fortune of $US 3.2 billion. I understand he has too little fortune to risk, he should kindly allow someone with a larger heart and willingness to express his generousity towards us. We are tired of drought when there’s plenty happening on the other side.
Another benefit of Usmanov’s takeover is the issue of sponsorship. With the Emirates sponsorship of the groove fast winding down and the club keen for a better deal, reports had it that the search for a new sponsor took them to Russia where they approached a firm Usmanov had considerable interests in. if the Russian oligarch is allowed to takeover the club, such sponsorships would be a done deal. With the Financial Fair Play Rule set to roll in, sponsorship seems the way profligate clubs are trying to outwit it. Incase, we decide to tow their line ( I doubt it though), having a good sponsorship would be vital and Usmanov could be key to that.
In the advent of Usmanov’s arrival and abundant cash available, will conservative Wenger spend? I believe he would. Wenger once revealed he would have acquired Ronaldo if he was manager of the Bernebeu outfit. Yes, he backed Madrid splurge of 80 million Pounds on the former Porto star. That shows he is not allergic to spending. His rather conservative and selling style is owing to his desire to keep the club financially stable and the excessive greed of Peter Hill-Wood led board that would rather get dividends from the sale of star players than see the funds re-invested and the club win trophies.
His coming would most certainly mark the end of the reign of Peter Hill-Wood. The current board that he chairs is complacent and so satisfied with a mediocre fourth placed finish. We need some new set of people with fresh ideas and hunger for success.
Seven years is a long time waiting for a trophy, silent Stan might not change the status quo because he is very much in support of the sustainable model that has deprived us of silverware all these seasons. Hence, we need to try another person and see what he has to offer. Stan has been too silent for long, it’s time to hear Usmanov’s voice and feel his cash.



Arsenal Football Club



 is an English Premier League football club based in Holloway, London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups. Arsenal holds the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and would be placed first in an aggregated league of the entire 20^th century.^[2] It is the second side to complete an English top flight season unbeaten (in the 2003–04 season), and the only one to do it across 38 matches.
Arsenal was founded in 1886 in Woolwich and in 1893 became the first club from the south of England to join the Football League. In 1913, it moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In the 1930s the club won five League Championship titles and two FA Cups. After a lean period in the post-war years it won the League and FA Cup Double, in the 1970–71 season, and in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century won two more Doubles and reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. Arsenal has a long-standing rivalry with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom it contests the North London derby. Arsenal is the fourth most valuable association football club in the world as of 2012, valued at $1.3 billion.^[3]

Arsenal Football Club started out as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south-east London, and was renamed Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards.^[4] The club was renamed again to Woolwich Arsenal after becoming a limited company in 1893.^[5] The club became the first southern member of the Football League in 1893, starting out in the Second Division, and won promotion to the First Division in 1904. The club's relative geographic isolation resulted in lower attendances than those of other clubs, which led to the club becoming mired in financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910, when they were taken over by businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall.^[6] Norris sought to move the club elsewhere, and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London; they dropped "Woolwich" from their name the following year.^[7] Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but were nevertheless elected to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, by reportedly dubious means.^[8]
Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925. Having already won the league twice with Huddersfield Town in 1923–24 and 1924–25 (see Seasons in English football), Chapman brought Arsenal their first period of major success. His revolutionary tactics and training, along with the signings of star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, laid the foundations of the club's domination of English football in the 1930s.^[9] Under his guidance Arsenal won their first major trophies – victory in the 1930 FA Cup Final preceded two League Championships, in 1930–31 and 1932–33. In addition, Chapman was behind the 1932 renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club.^[10]
Chapman died suddenly of pneumonia in early 1934, leaving Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on his successful work. Under their guidance, Arsenal won three more titles, in 1933–34, 1934–35 and 1937–38, and the 1936 FA Cup. As key players retired, Arsenal had started to fade by the decade's end, and then the intervention of the Second World War meant competitive professional football in England was suspended.^[11][12][13]
After the war, Arsenal enjoyed a second period of success under Allison's successor Tom Whittaker, winning the league in 1947–48 and 1952–53, and the FA Cup in 1950. Their fortunes waned thereafter; unable to attract players of the same calibre as they had in the 1930s, the club spent most of the 1950s and 1960s in trophyless mediocrity. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a stint between 1962 and 1966.^[13][14][15]
Arsenal began winning silverware again with the surprise appointment of club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966. After losing two League Cup finals, they won their first European trophy, the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. This was followed by an even greater triumph: their first League and FA Cup double in 1970–71.^[16] This marked a premature high point of the decade; the Double-winning side was soon broken up and the following decade was characterised by a series of near misses. Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up in 1972–73, lost three FA Cup finals, in 1972, 1978 and 1980, and lost the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United in the 1979 FA Cup Final, widely regarded as a classic.^[13][17]
The return of former player George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of glory. Arsenal won the League Cup in 1986–87, Graham's first season in charge. This was followed by a League title win in 1988–89, won with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool. Graham's Arsenal won another title in 1990–91, losing only one match, won the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993, and a second European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1994.^[13][18] Graham's reputation was tarnished when he was found to have taken kickbacks from agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players,^[19] and he was dismissed in 1995. His replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted for only one season, leaving the club after a dispute with the board of directors.^[20]