Arsenal: So, this is what happened with Ivan Gazidis?

I always doubted the validity of the Ivan Gazidis exit rumours. Until Tuesday morning, when it was announced that Stan Kroenke was set to take full control of Arsenal football club. Then it all made sense.

I never quite understood the Ivan Gazidis links to AC Milan. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe them, though I did seriously doubt their validity. It was more that I didn’t understand them. I couldn’t comprehend the ‘why’ of the departure, and that, for me, was critical in determining the likelihood of it ever actually coming to pass. If there was no discernible reason why, then why would I believe it would ever happen?

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But now, a couple of weeks later on this somewhat bleak Tuesday morning, — it is actually quite bright, but with the nature of the latest development, everything looks a little bleaker than before — it all makes sense.

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Stan Kroenke is set to take full control of Arsenal football club. The American owner, who has been the majority shareholder since 2011 when he increased his shares to 67%, has submitted an offer of £600 million for the remaining shares, 30% of which are owned by Alisher Usmanov and the remaining 3% are owned by a plethora of minority shareholders. Usmanov has stated that he has accepted Kroenke’s offer, taking the overall share to more than 90% which will mean that every shareholder will have to partake in a compulsory sale at the same share price.

This is a lot of information and it can get a little confusing. Essentially, Kroenke will now be the sole owner of the club, giving him more autonomy to make decisions, won’t be beholden to an Annual General Meeting with the shareholders, as there aren’t any other shareholders, and can exercise greater financial freedom and flexibility in terms of paying dividends and shifting personal debt onto the club, if he so chooses.

It would also leave Gazidis in a very unstable position. After Arsene Wenger’s departure in May, Josh Kroenke, the son of owner Stan, has taken a much more hands-on position at the club, exercising his influence as a member of the board. He is also now the anticipated successor for Gazidis, should the CEO depart for Milan. That is no coincidence.

This is why I always struggled with the idea of Gazidis leaving now. He has worked so hard to put himself in the position of control that he is now in. He and Wenger worked together, but the relationship was clearly fractious, with Gazidis wanting a more modern, continental, support-based approach and Wenger preferring his omnipotence of years past. He finally won that battle, implementing the board structure with himself, Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat and Head of Relations Raul Sanllehi all supporting the head coach. And then he was going to leave? It didn’t make sense.

Until now. Now it makes complete sense. Gazidis is a smart man. He knows the changes that would come to the club with Kroenke as the sole owner. And if he doesn’t like them, then he also knows that he doesn’t have to be a part of them. He has a get-out. Unfortunately, as fans, we do not.

It still remains to be seen whether Gazidis actually leaves Arsenal. There have been conflicting reports throughout the saga. But if he does, I think we all know why.