DOES MONEY BUY SUCCESS? A LOOK AT THE TOP SIX CLUBS SINCE THE RUSSIAN ROUBLE AND THE OIL RICH COUNTRY ARRIVED VIA CHELSEA AND MANCHESTER CITY. by Ken1945
As we all know, having a $10 billion dollar owner like Stan Kroenke, doesn’t automatically bring success, if The Arsenal is not seen as a passion in his life.
If we also look at the owners of Manchester United, the Glazer family, reportedly worth $4.7 billion dollars, we seen that their ownership has seen this once mighty club fall down the pecking order, as has ours.
In the early part of the 20th century, The Arsenal and Man United would lock horns and win all the major trophies in the English Premier League between them, but since 2003, when Abramovich purchased Chelsea from Ken Bates, their stranglehold has disappeared.
Since then, the level playing field has become as uneven as our pot-ridden road in the UK.
Here are the current Premier league billionaire owners, with their reported wealth (businessinsider.com) in American dollars (sorry you can convert to £’s if you desire).
Everton……. Farhad Moshiri……..$1.9 billion…Record signing $53.8
Liverpool….John Henry……………$2.7 billion…Record signing $92.2
Newcastle….Mike Ashley………….$2.9 billion…Record signing $47.9
C. Palace….Joshua Harris…………$3.5 billion…Record signing $34.0
Man United. Glazer Family………..$4.7 billion…Record signing $114.3
Tottenham…Joe Lewis………………$5.0 billion…Record signing $65.3
Leicester……Srivaddhanaprabha…$5.9 billion…Record signing $49.0
Aston Villa.Nassef Sawiris……….$6.4 billion…Record signing $27.2
Wolves……..Guo Guangcheng…. $6.7 billion…Record signing $41.2
Arsenal…….Stan Kroenke………… $8.7 billion…Record signing $87.1
Chelsea…….Roman Abramovich. $12.4 billion. Record signing $87.1
Man City….Sheikh Mansour……..$30.0 billion. Record signing $82.7
Aliko Dangote, self-confessed Arsenal fans reported worth? $7.4 billion (says Forbes in real time, which has probably been reduced since the virus began, as have all the above figures).
Some real wealth in there and surprising to realise just how these billionaires seem to believe football clubs are a good investment – unless they had so much money, they thought it was just a “nice to have” accessory!!!
Now we know that this coronavirus is not just a small blip, but a real worldwide life changer, what does the future hold for these clubs and their investors?
Well, in my opinion, the twelve clubs listed above, will survive whatever this virus throws at the human race, presuming an antidote will be found.
Too much investment has already been outlaid by these 12 Just Men, for them to walk away…and what other billionaire would even think of buying out any of these clubs, when the outlays of salaries, tied to legal contracts, the threat of media companies demanding their money back for coverage unseen and sponsors who have seen their investments decimated?
Interestingly, one man who comes to mind, is the billionaire Aliko Dangote and his reported sterling value of 6 billion that converts to $7.4 billion dollars.
As late as 13th January this year, he promised to buy out Kroenke, once his current $20 billion worth of projects are completed sometime in 2021.
If the sports investments that Kroenke has made in America drain his fortune enough to make him consider selling his only sports investment outside of the USA (as far as I can determine), would this give Dangote the opportunity to buy him out?
I have no real idea about the man himself, having only read what is out there in the media, but if this does give him the opportunity to realise his dream, would he be prepared to take the chance and would we, as The Arsenal, benefit?
The coronavirus has changed the world, let alone football, for ever and I can only hope that it hasn’t changed Dangote’s mind.
He seems to be the only realistic person who is capable of getting this current owner out of our club and, if it happens, just imagine how it could/would transform the club.
His wealth dwarfs every other one on the list (except for City’s sheikh and his country’s oil reserves) and, with sensible planning from our board, we could be transformed while staying inside the governing bodies rules.
In this time of worldwide closure, football is a minor subject of course, but to think that Kroenke might just depart from our club is a dream come true.
Take care and be safe.
ken1945