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It has been a commonplace of recent commentary that the skids are under Arsenal on and off the pitch. Since the prospect was raised of a takover by the American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke and the subsequent departure of influential vice-chairman David Dein, many have written off the club's prospects. The gloomy prognosis appears to be confirmed by the decision of star striker Thierry Henry to leave and endless speculation about the future of manager Arsene Wenger. The argument runs that failure on the pitch will lead to disaster off it. Arsenal has £260m of net debt, most of it in the form of a bond issue taken out to pay for the move from Highbury to the Emirates. On the positive side matchday revenues at the Emirates are around £80m compared with £38m at Highbury while debt repayments are £18m - £19m a year. However, about a third of the revenue at the new stadium is from corporate boxes and other corporate seats. Some of these followers might walk away if the club failed to qualify for Europe, even though there is a waiting list for them. The feeling persists among some fans that the club is hard up which is why some of them would welcome a Kroenke takeover. Kroenke is at least talking to the club, having had two friendly meetings with managing director Ken Edelman, but he has given no indication of what his intentions are.
Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone may make a bid for Arsenal
Although he is a regular guest at Stamford Bridge, Eccleston has no track record in football. The deal seems to have arisen from the romance between Ecclestone's daughter Tamara and David Dein's son Gavin. Dein is thought to have had discussions with Ecclestone over the possibility of the billionaire buying his 14.6 per cent shareholding in the club in return for installing him as chairman once the takeover is complete. Dein at one time favoured a takeover by American billionaire Stan Kroenke but now believes that a British takeover would be more acceptable to the Arsenal board and fans. Biggest shareholder Danny Fiszman is now a tax exile living in Switzerland and is rarely seen at the Emirates. He is believed to be prepared to sell his shares, valued at £162m, to Ecclestone which would achieve his aim of blocking a takeover by Kroenke.
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