Don't forget Kaboul. Would have played CB for France during the Euros if it hadn't been for injury.
** ALL NEW (WITH RULES) Summer Transfer Window 2012/2013 Season Rumours/Signings **
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Don't forget Kaboul. Would have played CB for France during the Euros if it hadn't been for injury.
RVP won't go to City.
I bloody well hope not, ill lose even more respect for the guy if he does.
Dont know what Arsenal are going to do, from what ive been reading a decision wont be made till Gazidis comes back from his 2 week holiday. Dont know if its worth making him play out his final yr of his contract then let him go for a free next season ie we lose out on making some money or sell him now for £20mill+.
Interestingly SSN are reporting that a few of the shareholders are deeply concerned about the direction we are going ie losing our best players and still not winning any trophies. Will be interesting to see what happens in the next few mths regarding this. One thing is true though, it is concerning that literally every yr we seem to be losing our best players to other teams. I imagine that next season, whould Wilshere play and be fully fit...he will be the next Gunner being linked with a move away
.
Caporegime
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LOL!!!!!
!
RVP won't go to City.
Do you think he'd come under less fire if he went to Man Utd?
Caporegime
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That Usmanov letter is damning!!
In so many words, he is blatantly accusing the Arsenal board of greed. They own shares in the club and the more money in the coffers, the greater their share value. Just looking out for themselves and he 100% correct imo.
This is the full text. It's very rare you see such public slamming between shareholders.
Dear Sirs,
In recent weeks a couple of separate actions have occurred, which have caused us, as a near 30% shareholder in the Club, to have serious concerns about the approach of the Board and the management team:
• Firstly, there were some very deliberate and public comments by Ivan Gazidis which were intended to leave the Club's supporters with an impression that Red & White is in some bitter stand-off with the Board over its desire for a Board seat and that our involvement on the Club's Board might cause conflict and "destabilize" the Club; and
• Secondly, OJSC MegaFon (Russia) received a cold call letter from Mr Gazidis requesting a meeting to discuss a possible international partnership deal including shirt sponsorship. MegaFon is one of the three largest mobile phone companies in Russia and also happens to be over 50% owned by Alisher Usmanov. Is this really the level of professionalism that is being applied to securing long-term commercial contracts?
Let us not forget that we have invested circa £200 million of cash in the equity of the Club. We are part of this Club and naturally want the best for it, but our investment is less important than the fact that we are loyal supporters and will never do anything that would destabilize or "create conflict" at the Club.
We do however believe that you, the Board, and the executive management team should focus your energies on the most efficient operation of the Club and desist from seeking to create a false enemy in Red & White. In our view it is clear that you are trying to distract attention from the more fundamental issues facing the Club, and which indeed many of the supporters discuss through social media sites and other forums on a regular basis. These are the financial model, the lack of investment and the Club's future strategic direction.
However, before addressing these points, it is important to deal with the issues surrounding a Board seat for Red & White once and for all. As you all know well, Mr Usmanov has never sought for himself a Board seat at the Club. Indeed Mr Usmanov does not hold any board seat in any of the companies where he is an investor. Since the purchase of our first share in the Club, we have not only steadfastly adhered to a policy of non-interference in the running of the Club, but have consistently supported the management and given no reason whatsoever to be accused of subversion or sabotage. The history of our voting in support of the Board at the annual general meetings is proof of this.
Indeed, in any conversation about conflict, it is clear from a look at the history of the Club in recent years that the Board has achieved conflict without the help of any outside parties, notably the acrimonious departures of David Dein, Keith Edelman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and Richard Carr, who then reappeared on the Football Club Board. You also instituted a lock-down agreement originally to prevent Mr Kroenke from gaining control and then, later, to exclude our involvement even though there were no grounds or need to do so.
The real conflict seems to be between the supporters' expectations and your vision for the Club and at the heart of this is the policy of so-called self-financing. The self-financing model was created to suit the major shareholders at the time, all of whom subsequently sold their shares.
The previous decision by the Board to fund the building of the Emirates Stadium with long-term debt was, we believe, certainly not about self-financing. If it had been, it would have been funded through a mixture of debt and non-dividend equity. Instead it allowed, in our view, the major shareholders of the time, who happened to all be Board directors, to load the Club with a liability, to benefit from increased future revenue streams and consequent increase in the value of their holdings, whilst avoiding dilution of their equity. The Board of the time then appeared to pursue a policy of increasing ticket prices and squeezing the fans to cover the short term cost increases which allowed them to bridge until all of these shareholders and Board directors sold 100% of their holdings and cashed out at vast profits.
This policy does not seem to have changed. We have sought and been refused any meetings with Mr Kroenke despite the fact that we own almost 30% of the Club or to put another way almost 1 in every 3 seats in the stadium. It is clear that our stated policy for the major shareholders, namely Mr Kroenke and ourselves, to inject non-dividend paying equity into the Club by way of a rights issue to reduce the debt and invest in the future is of no interest to the Board. Mr Kroenke was sold a vision by the Board at the time that the Club could be successful without further investment, so he is pursuing a similar policy which is to run the Club without any investment and to avoid any dilution of his equity, a good part of which was funded by a loan from Deutsche Bank AG to KSE, UK, Inc. at the time of the mandatory offer. The status of that loan and whether it is still outstanding has not been clarified by Mr Kroenke.
As a consequence of this policy, which is dressed up as prudent financial planning, it is down to our manager, and not the shareholders, to have to deal with the Club's tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements. All of that, naturally, comes at the expense of performance on the pitch.
This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the Club and the Club's ambitions. The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season Robin van Persie sums this up. Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player at the Club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies. Where are the safeguards to ensure that this doesn't happen again and again in the future? As a top Club we should, at the very least, match if not beat the offers that other clubs make to try and lure our very best players away, and also provide a more compelling vision of the future. You can try and put a good face on a bad game for as long as you want, pontificating about the merits of this model, but it will not hide the obvious fact that it just does not allow our great manager to fully realize his managerial talent and deliver success for the fans who are paying the highest prices in the land. It appears that a place in the Champions League will be the pinnacle of our ambition again next season. Unfortunately, in the future we may see this ambition lowered further. It doesn't help to turn a blind eye to the reality of the situation and keep thinking of ourselves as being in the same league as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona. To have a fighting chance of success, which means winning trophies, we need to match them in every aspect, including, if not first and foremost, financial.
So what is Red & White's vision for the Club? It is simple. A debt free Club, with a big enough war chest to buy top talent players who can hit the ground running and who can complement the Club's long tradition of developing young players and homegrown talent. Together they can help the Club win the most prestigious trophies - because it is the trophies which are the crowning achievement for everybody at the Club. The trophies are also key to the commercial success of the Club - they increase the value of the players, the value of the brand, attract the best sponsors and maximize the value of our commercial contracts which should in turn mean that the Club does not have to squeeze any more income from hard pressed fans. We also believe in the transparency that a stock market listing brings so are committed to the Club remaining listed on the stock exchange and to greater fan involvement both through share ownership and also Board representation for the fans.
Today we wish the majority shareholder Mr Kroenke every success in running the Club, even though we have deep reservations about the viability of the policies being pursued by his management team and sanctioned by the Board.
Finally and reflecting our long-term commitment to the Club, we will continue to purchase more shares in the Club from anyone who wants to sell them to us. Also in order to formalize our long-term involvement with the Club and put an end to any speculation over our position, we, as the co-owners of Red &White, will proudly retain our holding in the Club as a long-term investment for ourselves and our family members to benefit for generations to come. We want the absolute best for the Club and will do what is necessary to ensure the success of the Club that we all love.
Yours sincerely,
Alisher Usmanov
Farhad Moshiri
Great letter. They need to be embarrassed into action or Arsenal will decline further.
In other Arsenal news, it appears as though a fee may have been agreed between Arsenal and Lyon for Hugo Lloris. Puzzling tbh. Their current keeper is good enough surely.
In so many words, he is blatantly accusing the Arsenal board of greed. They own shares in the club and the more money in the coffers, the greater their share value. Just looking out for themselves and he 100% correct imo.
This is the full text. It's very rare you see such public slamming between shareholders.
Dear Sirs,
In recent weeks a couple of separate actions have occurred, which have caused us, as a near 30% shareholder in the Club, to have serious concerns about the approach of the Board and the management team:
• Firstly, there were some very deliberate and public comments by Ivan Gazidis which were intended to leave the Club's supporters with an impression that Red & White is in some bitter stand-off with the Board over its desire for a Board seat and that our involvement on the Club's Board might cause conflict and "destabilize" the Club; and
• Secondly, OJSC MegaFon (Russia) received a cold call letter from Mr Gazidis requesting a meeting to discuss a possible international partnership deal including shirt sponsorship. MegaFon is one of the three largest mobile phone companies in Russia and also happens to be over 50% owned by Alisher Usmanov. Is this really the level of professionalism that is being applied to securing long-term commercial contracts?
Let us not forget that we have invested circa £200 million of cash in the equity of the Club. We are part of this Club and naturally want the best for it, but our investment is less important than the fact that we are loyal supporters and will never do anything that would destabilize or "create conflict" at the Club.
We do however believe that you, the Board, and the executive management team should focus your energies on the most efficient operation of the Club and desist from seeking to create a false enemy in Red & White. In our view it is clear that you are trying to distract attention from the more fundamental issues facing the Club, and which indeed many of the supporters discuss through social media sites and other forums on a regular basis. These are the financial model, the lack of investment and the Club's future strategic direction.
However, before addressing these points, it is important to deal with the issues surrounding a Board seat for Red & White once and for all. As you all know well, Mr Usmanov has never sought for himself a Board seat at the Club. Indeed Mr Usmanov does not hold any board seat in any of the companies where he is an investor. Since the purchase of our first share in the Club, we have not only steadfastly adhered to a policy of non-interference in the running of the Club, but have consistently supported the management and given no reason whatsoever to be accused of subversion or sabotage. The history of our voting in support of the Board at the annual general meetings is proof of this.
Indeed, in any conversation about conflict, it is clear from a look at the history of the Club in recent years that the Board has achieved conflict without the help of any outside parties, notably the acrimonious departures of David Dein, Keith Edelman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and Richard Carr, who then reappeared on the Football Club Board. You also instituted a lock-down agreement originally to prevent Mr Kroenke from gaining control and then, later, to exclude our involvement even though there were no grounds or need to do so.
The real conflict seems to be between the supporters' expectations and your vision for the Club and at the heart of this is the policy of so-called self-financing. The self-financing model was created to suit the major shareholders at the time, all of whom subsequently sold their shares.
The previous decision by the Board to fund the building of the Emirates Stadium with long-term debt was, we believe, certainly not about self-financing. If it had been, it would have been funded through a mixture of debt and non-dividend equity. Instead it allowed, in our view, the major shareholders of the time, who happened to all be Board directors, to load the Club with a liability, to benefit from increased future revenue streams and consequent increase in the value of their holdings, whilst avoiding dilution of their equity. The Board of the time then appeared to pursue a policy of increasing ticket prices and squeezing the fans to cover the short term cost increases which allowed them to bridge until all of these shareholders and Board directors sold 100% of their holdings and cashed out at vast profits.
This policy does not seem to have changed. We have sought and been refused any meetings with Mr Kroenke despite the fact that we own almost 30% of the Club or to put another way almost 1 in every 3 seats in the stadium. It is clear that our stated policy for the major shareholders, namely Mr Kroenke and ourselves, to inject non-dividend paying equity into the Club by way of a rights issue to reduce the debt and invest in the future is of no interest to the Board. Mr Kroenke was sold a vision by the Board at the time that the Club could be successful without further investment, so he is pursuing a similar policy which is to run the Club without any investment and to avoid any dilution of his equity, a good part of which was funded by a loan from Deutsche Bank AG to KSE, UK, Inc. at the time of the mandatory offer. The status of that loan and whether it is still outstanding has not been clarified by Mr Kroenke.
As a consequence of this policy, which is dressed up as prudent financial planning, it is down to our manager, and not the shareholders, to have to deal with the Club's tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements. All of that, naturally, comes at the expense of performance on the pitch.
This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the Club and the Club's ambitions. The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season Robin van Persie sums this up. Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player at the Club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies. Where are the safeguards to ensure that this doesn't happen again and again in the future? As a top Club we should, at the very least, match if not beat the offers that other clubs make to try and lure our very best players away, and also provide a more compelling vision of the future. You can try and put a good face on a bad game for as long as you want, pontificating about the merits of this model, but it will not hide the obvious fact that it just does not allow our great manager to fully realize his managerial talent and deliver success for the fans who are paying the highest prices in the land. It appears that a place in the Champions League will be the pinnacle of our ambition again next season. Unfortunately, in the future we may see this ambition lowered further. It doesn't help to turn a blind eye to the reality of the situation and keep thinking of ourselves as being in the same league as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and Barcelona. To have a fighting chance of success, which means winning trophies, we need to match them in every aspect, including, if not first and foremost, financial.
So what is Red & White's vision for the Club? It is simple. A debt free Club, with a big enough war chest to buy top talent players who can hit the ground running and who can complement the Club's long tradition of developing young players and homegrown talent. Together they can help the Club win the most prestigious trophies - because it is the trophies which are the crowning achievement for everybody at the Club. The trophies are also key to the commercial success of the Club - they increase the value of the players, the value of the brand, attract the best sponsors and maximize the value of our commercial contracts which should in turn mean that the Club does not have to squeeze any more income from hard pressed fans. We also believe in the transparency that a stock market listing brings so are committed to the Club remaining listed on the stock exchange and to greater fan involvement both through share ownership and also Board representation for the fans.
Today we wish the majority shareholder Mr Kroenke every success in running the Club, even though we have deep reservations about the viability of the policies being pursued by his management team and sanctioned by the Board.
Finally and reflecting our long-term commitment to the Club, we will continue to purchase more shares in the Club from anyone who wants to sell them to us. Also in order to formalize our long-term involvement with the Club and put an end to any speculation over our position, we, as the co-owners of Red &White, will proudly retain our holding in the Club as a long-term investment for ourselves and our family members to benefit for generations to come. We want the absolute best for the Club and will do what is necessary to ensure the success of the Club that we all love.
Yours sincerely,
Alisher Usmanov
Farhad Moshiri
Great letter. They need to be embarrassed into action or Arsenal will decline further.
In other Arsenal news, it appears as though a fee may have been agreed between Arsenal and Lyon for Hugo Lloris. Puzzling tbh. Their current keeper is good enough surely.
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Yea, but he's French.
RVP won't go to City.
He wants to win things. City are just entering their golden age of winning things IMO.
Posted it a few hours agoHas anyone else seen the report that Man Utd have sent a team of negotiators to try and get Lucas Moura from Sao Paulo? He would be a great signing but doesn't really play CM.
I imagine we will put in a bid for RvP at a reasonably low price. Why not?
Guess no one read it
Anyways....
Back to transfers,
Greg Cunningham left today to Bristol City. Decent player but not going to play ahead of Kolarov and Clichy.
Rumours of a Tevez-Ibra swap which would pull us out of the RvP deal surely! Mancini loves Ibra so a possibility and we get rid of a player who doesn't want to be here for another ego maniac
I read that it was AVB at Spurs who are looking at Lloris at the moment.
Is money all people are looking at when they come to City now?
If we signed in him in 2008 like Robinho i would be inclined to agree but were not. We would be signing off winning the Premier League.
I am sure his ego would love to win the PL, beat the myth he doesn't score against English teams (often) and generally it is just another career move. He will get paid a handsome amount but he does at AC so.
Because it always is
...no point in denying it that your club pays some stupidly outrageous wages to your players. Would love to see Ibra in the EPL but dont think it will ever happen. Would love to see him as our replacement for RVP, he would score a bagful of goals.
Don't shoot the messenger
I think you two have had a bit of a mix up.
I assume that Anydybtsn was quoting him word for word, as in Ibra mentioned Man City by name rather than Andybtsn tacking it on to Ibras words.
City don't need the money to attract top players any more but everyone knows its still there.
Where am i denying we aren't paying big wages? like every team does with players like ours. We aren't doing something that is out of the ordinary.Because it always is
Would love to see Ibra in the EPL but dont think it will ever happen. Would love to see him as our replacement for RVP, he would score a bagful of goals.
I think we have proven to those players we probably approached years ago and turned us down, that we are starting to becoming a good team and the investment is still continuing on the field and off.
We have been improving year on year since the takeover and i am sure that will encourage players of Ibra's stature to consider us now.
Like i say this is all just rumours but it is no secret that Mancini loves Ibra and like i say the chance to win a premier league or Cl with another club and prove doubters wrong that he can't play in the pl may be a draw to him.
We dont and many other teams cant afford the wages you pay your players so its not entirely surprising that you have some truly world class players and are winning trophies now. Although the only team thats capable of splashing money like you lot do is Chelsea but even then lately they havent spent all that much.
You dont need to encourage players of Ibra's stature to come play for you, majority of players out there know you have lots of money to throw around in wages so that will be a deciding factor in coming to you and also the fact that you can 'literally' buy any trophy you want, its just a case of getting the right players into your squad to do so.
As for Ibra??, as much as id love to see him in the EPL, i cant see AC letting him go that easily but also its dependant on him ie if he wants to come to the EPL...at the moment i dont think hes interested in coming just yet.
Caporegime
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i will make a new trhead. it deserves a new thread tbh
All this is ****, Chelsea spent a fortune, Man Utd have spent a fortune and still don't spend peanuts. They have no choice but to spend a lot and pay high wages just to compete. The issue is that's the only way to get a chance to win anything, just see the Arsenal letter above.
If any other club wants to challenge the top 4 they will need to spend a lot of money, it's a tad off to call that buying the title or cup when all other winners have done the same since the start of the Premier league.
If it's not sour grapes from one camp it's from another, exactly the same as when Chelsea were winning.
By the way I support Everton so know all about having lots of money
All this is ****, Chelsea spent a fortune, Man Utd have spent a fortune and still don't spend peanuts. They have no choice but to spend a lot and pay high wages just to compete. The issue is that's the only way to get a chance to win anything, just see the Arsenal letter above.
If any other club wants to challenge the top 4 they will need to spend a lot of money, it's a tad off to call that buying the title or cup when all other winners have done the same since the start of the Premier league.
If it's not sour grapes from one camp it's from another, exactly the same as when Chelsea were winning.
By the way I support Everton so know all about having lots of money
No one bar Chelsea has ever done it successfully in the PL until City did it again.
When have united ever spent anything like what City have done in one season. When have clubs bought so many overpriced players that have never been used and are subsequently released on the cheap.
I don't begrudge City doing that, its really the only way to have a chance of winning the league. They would have had to buy Arsenal or Tottenham if they were not going to spend really big.
I don't think people care that much, they just don't like seeing muppets defending the fact that City have spunked a huge amount of money and changed the transfer markets valuation of players.
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