Would Arsenal be the next club in the English Premier League to go under the wings of foreign ownership? A few years ago with the rich cultural heritage and tradition of the London club, it would have been hardly conceivable to raise an issue over any foreign takeover of the club but times have much changes since Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea and planted a revolution in the Premiership in 2003. Manchester United were the next big club in England to be taken over by a billionaire and last season Liverpool embraced foreign money. And now Arsenal are in the books.
At the moment though, there’s still debate whether the lofty intensions of the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov to take over the ownership of Arsenal would eventually yield any positive results. But massive money flowing in, the prospect does appear pragmatic and realistic. The man himself denies that he has any immediate aspirations to be the proud owner of the club that has been the most entertaining football in the English Premiership for the past 5 or 6 years. Instead he has admitted that he is looking towards his proposition in the long run but his recent acquisition of 23% share in the club has helped flare up the issue that Arsenal will ultimately go into foreign hands.
Usmanov is keeping his fingers crossed. He doesn’t say that he will launch a takeover bid but he doesn’t deny that should the other major stockholders decide to sell their shares, he would be the first one to buy them. Danny Fiszman is the largest shareholder of the club with just over 24% but he has confirmed that he won’t be persuaded to sell his stake until at least April 2008.
The Arsenal board itself is quite skeptical of the supposed takeover bid from the Russian tycoon who owns the holdings company Red and White Holdings Limited (RAWHL). The Board is not interested in selling the club since a recently published report stated that Arsenal is now the richest club in Britain with an income of £200.8 million last season.
Since Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea, a string of bouts and suspicions have been raised on foreign ownership of British clubs. Some say that the large inflow of money is actually good for the game in the country since it would help sustain the high standards of the football played there while those on the opposite side of the divide declare that foreign ownership puts the clubs in apprehensive and fatal situations in the long run. But Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City have all benefited from foreign takeovers in recent yearsand Arsenal could follow them soon.
Image Source: Forbes
Source: BBC
