August 30th, 2007
Alisher Usmanov, the man behind the latest Arsenal takeover bid
Red and White Holdings Limited (“Red & White”) today announces that it has
purchased a 14.58% stake in Arsenal Holdings plc (“Arsenal”) from David Dein for £75m, and that it has appointed David Dein as its Chairman. Red & White also announces that it has committed funds to enable it to increase its stake in
Arsenal. However, Red & White confirms that it has no current intention to make a takeover offer for Arsenal or to acquire a shareholding in Arsenal which would trigger an obligation to make a takeover offer for Arsenal save as set out in note 1 below.
Red & White is an investment company established specifically to hold equity
interests in Arsenal. Red & White is jointly owned by Mr Alisher Usmanov, a
leading Russian businessman, and Mr Farhad Moshiri, a London-based investor and long time business associate of Mr Usmanov.
In his role as Chairman David Dein will develop proposals to support the future success of Arsenal and will focus on increasing Red & White’s stake in Arsenal as outlined above. Red & White believes that in light of the fast-changing landscape for football, both in the UK and globally, it will be able to assist Arsenal and ensure that it will be able to thrive in the future and become the leading football club in the world. Specifically, Red & White believes that in order to remain competitive at the top level of the game, Arsenal will require access to significant funding.
Additionally, Red & White believes that the continued involvement of Arsene
Wenger, over and above any renewed contract, is vital to the future success of
the club.
Red & White intends to approach the Board of Arsenal in the near future to
discuss its ideas, to understand the future direction of Arsenal and to explore
areas of potential cooperation.
Commenting on the announcement, Farhad Moshiri said:
“We are very excited not only to secure a significant stake in one of the
world’s most famous football clubs but also to have secured the involvement of
David Dein for the future. Arsenal is a great club with huge potential and we
look forward to increasing our stake and exploring ways to help support the
future development of the club for the benefit of all fans and shareholders.”
David Dein, Chairman of Red & White, added:
“I have always had the best interests of Arsenal at heart – I’ve had a love
affair with the club since I was six. I firmly believe that the involvement of
Red & White with a significant stake and the long-term commitment of Arsene
Wenger are absolutely the best outcome for the club, fans and shareholders
alike. I am delighted to have found, in Farhad Moshiri and Alisher Usmanov,
individuals who share my vision for Arsenal and of where it needs to go to be
the world’s leading football club.”
Alisher Usmanov:
Owner of Oskol Steel Mill, the Ural Steel industrial complex, and the Lebedinsky Iron Ore Mining and Processing Facility. Has said his first love was his stock, or shares, in his metals plants. Well, he sounds like a barrel of laughs. Also known as “The Hard Man of Russia”. I imagine that’s some kind of hilarious steel-based joke. He is wealthier than Berezovsky, with an estimated worth of around £1.8bn. This guy apparently makes Abrahmovich look like Mother Teresa. This story from the Daily Mail corroborates this:
When the only independent national TV channel was closed down in 2001, it was Gazprom Media which took it over and turned it into a propaganda arm of the Kremlin.
Gazprom went on to buy up Russia’s two large independent national newspapers. The last significant remaining one, Kommersant, was bought personally last November by the sinister Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov, chairman of Gazprominvest Holdings.
The Editor-in-Chief was immediately sacked while the defence correspondent, Igor Safronov, mysteriously fell to his death from a window three months later.
Gazprom now controls a whole raft of formerly independent media outlets encompassing TV, radio and newspapers, all faithfully echoing the Kremlin line.
Oh good. I think we can safely say that this is exactly what we didn’t want to happen.Â
Farhad Moshiri:
Usmanov’s UK representative, this man just loves his pottery. Expect the Emirates to be full of elegant vases anytime soon.
David Dein:
And slimy and orange as a rotting apricot, he’s a) made himself £75m, and b) bought a ticket back into Arsenal. Because believe me, this little trio won’t be stopping here.
August 30th, 2007
Usually on this day in the year, David Dein would be in Monaco with the movers and shakers of football for the Champions League Draw. This year, forced out of the limelight by his own transgressions, he has reportedly called a 4.30pm press conference to make an announcement that will overshadow the draw of Arsenal’s European fixture list.
The end of the transfer window could see a big deal go down, but not neccessarily on the pitch.
Brace yourselves for an explosion of media interest and “Arsenal takeover” stories, whatever the precise details of Dein’s announcement. You can be sure that the Tango-man will be loving the awkward questions Keith Edelman may have to field in Monaco at 5pm.
August 30th, 2007
When the Champions League group stage draw is made this afternoon, Arsenal will be in the first eight names out of the hat. After comfortably seeing off a small army of Spartans last night, we now join Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool as top seeds for the group stages.
The tie was over within seven minutes. Theo Walcott, who had started on the right, burst past his man and fired across the the goal. Tomas Rosicky arrived in perfect Robert Pires-style to sidefoot the ball into the net. The fans who had travelled from Prague politely applauded their former hero’s calm finish.
After that, the tie faded. Although they attacked gamely,the game was up for Sparta. Arsenal knew that their passage was secure, and that led to sloppiness throughout the side. Walcott’s crosses became wayward, Diaby’s passing erratic, and Senderos’ absent-minded defending led to him being berated by Kolo on one occasion.
The game changed when we introduced Cesc and Adebayor, and later Denilson. The younger Brazilian went wide right, pushing Walcott up top with the Togolese, and Eduardo dropped out to the left wing. The introduction of Cesc alone would’ve made a massive difference. Wearing a black armband for his friend Antonio Puerta, he was clearly a man on a mission.
Just inside the last ten minutes, Cesc shifted the ball outside to Eduardo, who I thought had been quiet all night. The Crozilian then flicked the ball past the defender and sprinted round him, leaving the full-back for dead, before finding Cesc in the box. Fabregas fired into the near post, making it three goals before August is out, and killing Sparta for good. Almost literally.
The final goal was the one most Arsenal fans will remember. As the last seconds of the game ticked away, an Adebayor-inspired flowing move found Denilson on the right. The youngster’s clipped cross to the near post was met by Eduardo, who had made a great diagonal run. The number nine stretched out his left-leg to place the ball into the far corner, and score his first Arsenal goal in his first start at the Emirates. Not bad at all. If you watch this video of the goal, you’ll see Adebayor try to crush Eduardo in a jealous rage as he lies prone on the floor. Tsk tsk.
I did think that Eduardo looked better on the wing. I don’t know if I’d go as far as Myles Palmer when discussing Van Persie’s ability to suffocate his partner, but he is without doubt an individualist, and I for one wasn’t inspired by his hour-long pairing with Da Silva. The Dutchman’s selfish streak is partly what makes him so good, which is why it’s such a tricky one to manage.
Walcott didn’t look uncomfortable on the right, but his final delivery was for the most part poor. Arsene moved him upfront in the second half, and was very frank when discussing the merits of both Eduardo and Walcott and their performances in their various positions:
“Theo had a good first half. He can be decisive. He’s very direct, quick, is a good crosser and finishes well. He’s improving his link play and is more aggressive. When he uses all the assets he has he will be dangerous for everybody. Once he plays through the middle he will make good runs and get behind defenders. Close to the line you need better technique and his greatest quality will be the runs he makes behind defenders. In the future he’ll be used more as a central striker.
If a defender is one yard behind him Theo will never get caught. He makes good runs along the line of the defence and he will be able to use that more when he plays through the middle. But it’s good for him to learn the job on the flanks.
Eduardo was the opposite of Theo, I found him more at ease on the left flank, where he had tricks of a winger, and then through the middle. He’s a great striker, you know, and you could see that. We did not always have the drive to find our strikers because we were more concerned with keeping the ball than finding our strikers, but if you find him he will score goals. That’s what he has, you know? He’s a box player.”
I suppose at this early stage in their Arsenal careers, we should just celebrate their versatility and the fact that last night they got a goal and two assists between them.
TTR #4: Welcome to the fourth installment in our Tenuous Transfer Rumours series.
First of all, a bit of bad news for anyone hoping we were going to move for Chelsea’s Lassana Diarra – I have a solid report that he spent Tuesday in talks with Portsmouth.
However, it was interesting to see Arsene interviewed before the game. When asked if the transfer window was completely closed for him, he smirked and replied “No. But 95%”. Maybe he’s trying to sneaks someone in at the last minute, just as the window shuts. Like Indiana Jones diving under a lowering wall. And going back to get his hat. Reckless.
Knowing our luck, the remaing “5%” of activity is a deal to sell Cesc to Bolton in exchange for a packet of crisps.
UPDATE: To hell with it – I can tell you that there might well be some buying going on at Arsenal. But that doesn’t neccessarily mean we’ll have a bigger squad.
Think about it.
