By David Gold
April 30 – Arsenal’s minority shareholder, billionaire oligarch Alisher Usmanov, has reiterated his desire to increase his stake in the Premier League club to over 30 per cent.
The Uzbek-born Russian business magnate (pictured below) currently owns shares valued at just below 30 per cent, and if he passes that threshold he will be enjoy specified access to the English Premier League club’s accounts, including details of player contracts.
Arsenal, it is believed, does not pay its top players as much as some of its main rivals, so any increase in stake from Usmanov may serve to rectify this situation.
Conversely, the club is understood to pay its less high-profile and emerging players far more than they would receive at any of their main rivals, with manager Arsène Wenger seeking to avoid a huge disparity in player salaries.
With fans frustrated at Arsenal’s reluctance to sign top names, there are now signs that Wenger is ready to change his long-held wage structure, with the prospect of losing star striker Robin van Persie prompting a serious rethink.
Usmanov, having lost the battle to take control of Arsenal last year when 64-year-old American entrepreneur Stan Kroenke bought the club, has demonstrated his desire to remain involved through the subsequent acquisition of shares, offering to pay a relatively high price to the remaining shareholders.
“When we invest in national sport we don’t expect profit – we expect medals and victories,” Usmanov told Russian television channel Rossiya.
“In Arsenal’s case, it is a real business which generates about $200 million (£123 million/€151 million) profit and a club with a value of $1 billion (£616 million/€756 million) today.
“When we were buying it, its value was about $500 million (£308 million/€378 million).
“I am very satisfied with my investment and certainly will be increasing it at any chance because I love Arsenal’s game, I appreciate [it] and I bow my head to the talent of the coach [Wenger].”
Usmanov, the world’s 28th richest person according to Forbes magazine, added: “I think the infrastructure of this football club is one of the best in the world.
“For a Russian investor, there is a great deal to gain from so-called ‘entering inside’ to one of the great sporting clubs.”
Aside from Usmanov and Kroenke, the remaining shares in the club belong primarily to the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST), which is keen to retain its stake to strengthen its influence.
The AST, however, is also keen for Usmanov to continue his involvement in the club, preferring a hierarchal structure where no individual has absolute control.
Usmanov’s first purchase of club shares was from Arsenal’s former vice-president David Dein, ousted from the board in 2007, who is involved with the 58-year-old via his Red and White Holdings company.
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