Arsenal: Aliko Dangote a completely unnecessary unknown

Aliko Dangote has reemerged with intentions to buy Arsenal, but he’s an unknown, and that can be dangerous. Stan Kroenke is the opposite.

Maybe I’m feeling ballsy these days, but I have zero problem standing up and saying that I’m perfectly fine with Stan Kroenke owning Arsenal. Go ahead, cue the “you stupid American” comments, I’m ready and waiting.

Look at this club and the players in it—Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe? These are superstars. These are guys we spent a lot of money on. That’s what I’ve noticed about Kroenke a lot lately—we ask, he answers.

Try to refute me. Unai Emery wasn’t working out, so he got fired. We got Mikel Arteta, who’s looking pretty incredible in charge. We wanted the club to spend money and we got Pepe, who broke every transfer record imaginable. We wanted more of a presence and Josh Kroenke has been spending more time at the club.

We have a star-studded cast of players who just needed the right management. Coming down from Arsene Wenger, that was never going to be easy and depending on how next year goes, it may pan out much quicker than anticipated.

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Why would you want Aliko Dangote, then? To spend his own money on overpaid players so we can end up like Manchester United and Paul Pogba? The problem isn’t spending money on players, the problem is getting the right players. I had thought we’d know by now that monetary value is not the be all end all. Far from it.

That’s the big thing that you’re all wanting Dangote for, right? Or just because you can’t see past what you think Kroenke did wrong in the past?

Kroenke is consistent. He is a steady presence and for the last half decade, I’ve had little problems with him. I look at clubs like Chelsea, who are run by owners who are more engaged, but a bit neurotic, and I wonder who has it better. Then I understand that we do. Kroenke let’s the people who know best be in charge. When he needs to get involved, he does. That’s what an owner should do. He’s not the director of football. He’s not a manager. He’s just the owner.

Spare me all of the “grass is greener” nonsense. We don’t need a new owner. We just need time to sit and grow.