An Arsenal executive took a shot at Manchester City on Wednesday by saying that the club can’t compete against Manchester City because they have the financial resources of a nation state.
Manchester City are owned by Sheikh Mansour, who is a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Mansour has poured more than £1.5billion into the club since he acquired Manchester City five years ago.
While City is owned by Sheikh Mansour, Arsenal’s majority share holder is American billionaire Stan Kroenke. The American’s riches are not trivial by any means (he has a $5.3billion net worth) but they do pale in comparison to the wealth of Mansour and his family.
Arsenal chief commercial officer Tom Fox said:
“You can’t compete against that. We’re a football club in London and we are a global brand, but we would never try to compete against the financial resources of a country.
“I just don’t think that’s a very realistic thing for us to do … trying to chase those types of owners. Obviously it’s just not possible.
“We are competing against oligarchs (Roman Abramovich at Chelsea), we are competing against nation states, we are competing against clubs all across Europe that have sources of funding that are significant, that make it very difficult for us to compete.”
Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:
Premier League
- Arsenal Executive: “We Can’t Compete Against a [Nation State Like Man City]” — USA Today
- FA consider giving up title of the world’s most famous club knockout tournament — The Mail
- Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney ’50/50 at best’ to play against Chelsea at the weekend — The Mirror
- Bryan Ruiz heading back to the Eredivisie, set for six-month loan with PSV — Pro Soccer Talk
- Nicola Cortese exit paves way for £20m Luke Shaw transfer — The Telegraph
- Carlton Cole agrees new deal at West Ham — Sky Sports
- Manuel Pellegrini power play bolsters Manchester City’s quadruple bid — The Guardian
- West Ham’s medical chief Andy Rolls steps down at injury-plagued club — Telegraph
- Arsenal recruit head of sport science Andy Rolls from West Ham — The Guardian
- Nacer Chadli seeking move away from Tottenham to protect World Cup hopes — Sky Sports
- Film set to be made about Roy Keane’s childhood — The Score
- Galatasaray interested in Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam — Sky Sports
- Danny Graham moves towards exit as new strike force planned — Hull City Gazette
- Tottenham set to make £4million bid for Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella — Metro
- Norwich chief piles pressure on Chris Hughton with ‘Death before relegation’ statement — The Mirror
- Howard Webb chosen among 25 referees at World Cup finals in Brazil — The Guardian
- David Moyes accepts FA misconduct charge and faces fine — BBC Sport
- Swansea City monitor exciting Tenerife youngster Ayoze Perez — Wales Online
US soccer
- American Mark Geiger to referee at World Cup — ESPN FC
- Revamped NASL website introduces new features, subscription fee for live matches — Indy Week
La Liga
- Real Madrid cruise at Osasuna, advance in Copa del Rey — Pro Soccer Talk
Football League
The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.
