Arsene Wenger and Arsenal may soon have a new owner at the club. Stan Kroenke, who already added to his stock of shares in the North London club earlier this week, reportedly bought 200 more shares today to draw his stake in the club to 29.9 percent -- just 0.09 percent away from the limit where Kroenke would have to make a bid for the remaining shares.
At this point a takeover bid for the Gunners looks inevitable -- though some, including Wenger, don't see it that way. However, if Kroenke is successful in selling his share of the St. Louis Rams as is rumored, he would certainly have the capital available for a bid at Arsenal.
Arsenal is in fine form at the moment and seem able to ignore the boardroom developments. If a successful takeover of the club was completed, it would mean that all four of the 'big four' clubs in England would be under foreign ownership.
Here are a couple of other stories to catch up with this afternoon:
Chelsea look to sell Stamford Bridge naming rights
On the heels of Newcastle selling off the naming rights for St. James' Park this week, new Chelsea chairman Ron Gourlay announced that the London club would be seeking sponsorship for the rights to Stamford Bridge.
Following in the suit of Arsenal and Emirates Stadium, Gourlay indicated that the need to compete and keep up with the rest of Europe through sponsorship opportunities like this one.
"What we are not prepared to happen, and I am sure our fans will appreciate this, is allow our rival clubs in England and Europe to gain a competitive advantage over us in terms of the revenue they can generate through either expanding the capacity of their existing stadia or moving to a new stadium and then invest that upside in their team or the club," Gourlay told ESPN Soccernet.
Torres and Gerrard to wait on surgery
Injured Liverpool duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are going to play through the pain and forgo surgery -- at least for now. Gerrard has been out a few weeks, but Torres dealt with his injury and nearly played the entire 90 minutes in Lyon on Wednesday. However, with Liverpool's lagging domestica and European form thus far, it's another difficult choice for Rafa Benitez as he tries to revive trophy hopes.
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What do you think of the latest news on Kroenke's takover? Will he buy the club? What do you think of Chelsea selling the naming rights to their stadium?
Share your thoughts below.
