Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has once again launched an attack on the way the club is run. The Uzbekistan tycoon has claimed majority shareholder Stan Kroenke “doesn’t show any wish” to create a winning team at the Emirates.
“The team has no superstars now,” said Usmanov who also claimed that should the team finish fourth then Kroenke “would probably be happy”.
He also said he “will think what to do with Arsenal” by the end of the season. “In our understanding, Kroenke has no plans to sell his stake, but we also won’t sell out, as we are the team’s fans.”
Usmanov’s scathing comments about Kroneke and the Arsenal board will unfortunately fall on deaf ears at the Emirates. Despite owning just under 30% of the club, Kronke will not let Usmanov on the Arsenal board.
Kroenke is not interested in putting anymore money into Arsenal. He wants the club to be financial self-sufficent, and finishing in the top four every year appears to be the sum of his ambition. Usmanov on the other hand, appears willing to invest heavily in the squad, so that Arsene Wenger can compete with the likes of Man United, Man City and Chelsea. But unless Usmanov puts together a bid for Kronke’s majority share of the club, he is not going to get a chance to turn his words into actions.
Reports suggest that Arsene Wenger will be given a transfer kitty of up to £70million to spend this summer. But Arsenal fans have heard this story before and those sorts of funs have never materialized. Will they this summer?
