Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has reportedly made a bid of almost £525m to buy out Alisher Usmanov and edge closer to taking full control of the club.
The wealthy American currently owns 67 percent of Arsenal’s shares, while Usmanov holds a 30.4 percent stake. Add that together, and it would increase the former’s shareholding to more than 97 percent, as per The Guardian.
It comes after Usmanov has unsuccessfully tried his own takeover of the club from the American, and so now it remains to be seen what comes of this latest development with Kroenke’s popularity with the Arsenal fans extremely low given their recent struggles.
It’s claimed that he’s offered £28,000 per share to buy out the Russian, while he’s likely to have few problems in buying out the rest of the minority shareholders and in turn that would seemingly make Arsenal a privately owned business.
That comes with its own problems in that it involves less transparency and so supporters could know even less about what’s going on at boardroom level moving forward and that spells trouble as it could particularly frustrate those protesting for change last season.
Kroenke has never been the most popular of people at Arsenal, and with doubts over his intentions with the Gunners and whether or not he values success on the pitch over financial gain, it could be very problematic for the north London giants moving forward.
It’s a troubling time for Arsenal, more so than usual as this really could have long-lasting ramifications that negatively impact the club. As a result, many will likely be hoping that Kroenke’s offer is rejected and that he doesn’t get his hands on the club as a whole.