The underlying tensions within Arsenal’s ownership structure have resurfaced as time ticks down towards the transfer deadline after the major shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, claimed the board’s lack of spending and inability to hang on to the club’s best players have effectively rendered them a feeder team for their rivals.
The underlying tensions within Arsenal’s ownership structure have resurfaced as time ticks down towards the transfer deadline after the major shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, claimed the board’s lack of spending and inability to hang on to the club’s best players have effectively rendered them a feeder team for their rivals.
He argued, ‘The greatest achievement of Arsène Wenger is to have created two teams: the one that now plays for our rivals, and the one that is trying to be among the best in the Premier League. He condemned the “crazy salaries” enjoyed by key personnel such as Ivan Gazidis, the chief executive, who earned £2.1 million last year in wages, bonuses, benefits and pension contributions. Usmanov believes such funds should have been used to bolster the squad, which has declined in quality in recent years after the departures of players such as Robin van Persie, Cesc Fàbregas and Samir Nasri.
Usmanov, who owns just under 30 per cent of Arsenal, has regularly expressed his frustrations at the running of the club by the majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, and offered his latest outburst in an interview with French sports paper L’Equipe. He claims that Thierry Henry would welcome him as majority shareholder.
Usmanov complained about being treated like a ‘pirate’ in the takeover negotiations. But majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has never sold a share in the many sports clubs he controls and he is not going to start now. It’s an expression of frustration that will not change the club’s course.