Arsenal legend Ian Wright has taken to Twitter to beg shareholder Alisher Usmanov not to sell his stake in the club to Stan Kroenke.
Wright insisted on his personal Twitter account that the Premier League giants “must be protected” from US tycoon Kroenke, who has been the club’s majority stakeholder since 2011.
In an impassioned plea, the former striker and high-profile pundit described Russian billionaire Usmanov as Arsenal’s “only hope”.
Arsenal FC is an institution! It’s people’s lives!It must be protected from Kroenke. Usmanov you’re our only hope please do not sell ????
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) October 4, 2017
It comes at a time when Kroenke has made a move to take full control of Arsenal.
The American, who currently owns 67.05 per cent of the north London club, has offered Usmanov £525million for his 30 per cent stake.
Should the Russian billionaire agree to the sale, Kroenke would take his shareholding to over 97 per cent and would then be able to force the remaining minority shareholders to sell to him.
OPINION
There is disquiet among the Arsenal fanbase about the prospect of ‘Silent Stan’ taking complete control of the club he has steered invisibly from the States for the last six years. This period has coincided with a time of stagnation on and off the pitch at Arsenal, despite three FA Cup triumphs, with the supporters growing increasingly exasperated at the club’s failure to compete for the Premier League and Champions League crowns. Kroenke has been roundly criticised for a lack of ambition, a lack of investment and for failing to engage with supporters. Arsenal are drifting and Wright foresees the situation only worsening. If he takes full control, Kroenke could take the club private, scrap the AGM and even register the club in the US, most likely in Delaware alongside his other KSE franchises.