AGM: Arsene’s Bust (but Arsenal aren’t)
1 comment October 19th, 2007
Yesterday, Arsenal’s AGM took place, and a full report is available over on arseblog. For those of you who are interested, the guy at the end who asked for recognition of David Dein’s “contribution” was a well-known author and football consultant. I would tell you who, but I don’t want to be responsible if it results in some of you marching upon his house and calling him an “Usmanov-loving traitor”.
There’s quite a lot of news from the AGM itself, but here are the brief highlights:
- The board may not sell any shares (except to “permitted persons” ie. family) until April 2009
- Until April 2012, no board member can sell shares without first offering them to other board members
- A termination option in the above lockdown agreement is available in 2010
- A bust of Arsene Wenger has been commissioned to be displayed at the Emirates Stadium
Whilst the bust is a nice touch on the part of the board, the extension of the lockdown agreement has far greater significance, and could essentially be seen to be ruling out a takeover for the next five years. Importantly, it’ll put an end to a lot of speculation and reassure smaller shareholders about the future of the club.
Stan Kroenke was not in attendance and is not part of the lockdown agreement. I do not know whether or not he is a “permitted person” – ie. a potential buyer.  There are still questions about his level of involvement, but now the board have bought themselves plenty of time to play the game and get him onside.
In other news, the “underrated” Denilson has signed a new long-term contract. As Arsene points out, he’s the second youngsest member of the first-team squad behind Armand Traore, and plays with more maturity than players with plenty more years under their belt.
It’s not all good news though – an injury to Robin van Persie could keep him out for up to a month, and force him to miss crucial games against Liverpool and Manchester United.
Time for Eduardo and Bendtner to step up to that big proverbial plate.
