Never trust a fat, sweaty Uzbeki bearing gifts……?

Even though all Gooners can probably still hear “HE CAME TO US WHEN HENRY LEFT….” Ringing around the very chambers of our hearts, the big sweaty Uzbeki may be about to darken our days once more.

Although he does not yet have the blocking stake we all assume he is aiming for, he is making the moves to ensure that come the end of the lockdown, he is in prime position to snaffle up the 4.9% he needs. Various news reports and bloggers have gone over the details of this already, but is there actually a consensus on whether his involvement is prima facie a Bad Thing?

Certainly he is of dubious moral standing (well it’s not dubious – he’s an odious stain on the earth), but could we not do with any financial support he would bring? We did get Arshavin, but maybe at the cost of winning 4 more points in January if we had stumped up cash earlier and had him eligible. Yes we saved money, but at what cost to our final league position come May? Would a bit of oil-stained Uzbeki money have come in handy – probably.

Also, as it becomes clear that Man Utd’s squad is just too strong in depth (and let’s not forget that they have spent at least £15m on every one of their first team squad, and are only now bringing through homegrown “talent” like Wellbeck and Gibson) it is likely that we are going to need to spend consistently, not excessively, to sustain a challenge. And no matter what PHW says, we don’t seem to be in a position to do that at the moment.

Now I do not want Arsenal to be taken over, and am proud of our current status as a self-supporting club. But the football world is changing, maybe for the worse maybe for the better, and there is a risk of being left behind as a relic of an older more decent age. Should we accept Uzmanov’s intentions, or woo Kroenke?

Something to mull over in the quiet before the weekend…