Once again my club is on the front pages of the national newspapers for reasons that have nothing to do with football.
Former vice-chairman David Dein who was sacked in April has sold his shares in Arsenal for £75million to a Russian chap and then become chairman of the company, Red and White Holdings, set up for the shareholding.
Dein wanted the club to be taken over by the American Stan Kroenke because he believes that the club cannot compete unless there is a huge injection of cash - from a foreign buyer.
The Arsenal board has signed a memorandum agreeing not to sell until April 2008 at the earliest. Will they sell then? I hope not.
Do foreign buyers actually make any difference? Chelsea have won the premiership and the FA Cup twice each since they were bought by Roman Abramovich in 2003. It is generally agreed that the Russian oligarch has put money into the club.
On 6 February 2007 Liverpool were bought by two American businessmen, George Gillett and Tom Hicks. It is obviously too early to say if that purchase has had any positive effect on the Anfield club.
When Malcolm Glazier bought Manchester United on 12 May 2005, against the wishes of many fans, his supporters claimed that he would invest in the club. As far as I am aware that has not happened.
Back to Arsenal.
The board has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in the new Emirates Stadium. It is a long-term plan that won't see money recouped for several years. Why would they sell to a foreign businessman so that he can benefit from all their hard work? Unless he paid well over the odds, it would not make sense to them. If he did pay over the odds to compensate for future losses, it would not make sense to the business tycoon.
I hope that they don't.
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