Arsenal must stop selling if they are to win trophies, Usmanov

'Nobody can convince fans that the club is doing fine if for the past three or four years the club has been selling its best players,' Uzbek-born Usmanov said. 'It doesn't matter who our extremely talented coach, Arsene Wenger, buys to plug these holes if we want to win trophies.'

'I'm an absolute fan of Arsene Wenger,' Usmanov said. 'I support him and I'm confident in him. We think he's a hero.

'Despite changes in the playing lineup, he keeps the variations of the same beautiful game.'
'Arsenal received our letter,' said Usmanov. 'We didn't mean it as a hostile message or a declaration of war.'

However, Usmanov does not want to be on the board himself.

'We are tired of being accused of fighting for a place on the board,' he said. 'We have never in our lives asked for this place.'
'The season is beginning - we must close this discussion and support the club, coach and players,' he said.
'I never say we need to spend enormous money for any players but we must have capacity,' said Usmanov, when asked whether UEFA's planned Financial Fair Play measures mean that teams must cut losses or face exclusion from European competition.

Usmanov said he loves the club and holds his investment as 'a fan... who has participation as a shareholder.' He has no plans to sell, declaring 'if you sell what you love you lose yourself'.

'For now, we stay in Arsenal as shareholders as long as we don't lose our love for this club. Now we wish it support and great victory.'

Raptorgunner wrote:I dont get the hate really, I really like what he said.

sportsczy wrote:Some things you guys should consider:
- If you keep or buy top players, sponsors and media are willing to pay much more because they have a built in market attacked to those names.
- If there's a long term history of keeping top players or signing top players, the club can get longer and higher contracts from sponsors.

Now if you look at the situation as it stands... if i'm a sponsor, there's no way i value Arsenal on the same level as Chelsea, City, Madrid, etc. THe best players leave every year, Wenger is getting older and the club has shown no interest in competing with the elite.

At the end of the day, you ned to show investment to expect people out there that they should invest in you.

Arsenal is currently living off of its success up to 2005. But that's going to erode soon and there will be issues. There is no way in the world the UEFA is going to take a hard stand against Chelsea, City, PSG, etc. as long as they have long term endorsement contracts that pays for their spending. They would get destroyed in court. Platini can huff and puff all he wants.... but it's just posturing. Only the clubs that truly cannot attract sponsors and have huge payrolls, like the top Serie A teams save Juve, are looking at serious trouble.

RealGunner wrote:

Raptorgunner wrote:I dont get the hate really, I really like what he said.

you would, because he is saying exactly what the fans wants to hear. But if he aims to do what he says, that's entirely a different matter.

Since the RVP's announcement. He has been gathering allies, fans. What he wants with the club is not what we should be doing in an economical climate such as today