It has to be said that not all American owners have been bad for their clubs – look at Liverpool who have experienced both extremes: the contemptible worst in Hicks and Gillett before enjoying a resurgence under Fenway Sports Group.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal’s then Old Etonian chairman Peter Hill-Wood are as different as Kroenke and Raiola, but both recognised an enemy of the game when they saw one.
In his autobiography, Fergie said he took an instant dislike to the DutchItalian former small-time player and said they were like “oil and water”. He reaffirmed his view in a 2015 speech when he called him “a s***bag”.
It was the sheer impossibility of dealing with Raiola that led to Fergie allowing Pogba, then just a promising youngster, to leave for a pittance. And only the lack of an available Hazmat suit can explain why no one has dared ask him about the agent’s portion of the subsequent pie when he returned.
When Kroenke first loomed on the scene in 2007, Hill-Wood took one look and spat: “Call me old-fashioned, but we don’t need his money and we don’t want his sort…”
The old buffer was ridiculed for being an upper-class dinosaur but critics should have heeded the warning. He added: “Americans are buying up chunks of the Premiership football clubs and not because of their love of football but because they see an opportunity to make money.”
Hill-Wood eventually made an unlikely peace with Kroenke, being impressed by the American’s businesslike demeanour and profitable stewardship. Right now, though, you wonder if he thinks he was right the first time.
Kroenke has form in seeing “an opportunity to make money”. His success in seizing them has led to him being voted US sports entrepreneur of the year and his piece de resistance was when he relocated the St Louis Rams. some 40,000 to support the Rams on a regular basis.
He has been the most hated man in his home state for years but the Missouri boy is enjoying the fruits of even bigger gates at his LA franchise.
No one is fearing he is about to relocate Arsenal to the north of England or Costa Brava, but it is a perfect example of what Hill-Wood meant when he said “not because of their love of football but because they see an opportunity to make money”. Kroenke seldom even watches Arsenal.
It has to be said that not all American owners have been bad for their clubs – look at Liverpool who have experienced both extremes: the contemptible worst in Hicks and Gillett before enjoying a resurgence under Fenway Sports Group.
Yes, we know about the Glazers but what of Fulham who have bounced back under the enlightened Shahid Khan? Perhaps the best owner of this ilk was Randy Lerner at Aston Villa – at least before the 2008 Crash.
When Lerner had to trim his largesse and eventually became a hated figure at Villa, he noted: “It’s a cautionary tale: English football is not philanthropy.”
No, it never was. But nor is it a plaything for venture capitalists to rape and pillage on borrowed money. Kroenke has taken a 90% loan from Deutsche Bank to finance his purchase of Alisher Usmanov’s shares.
Now, he won’t take the Gunners out of the Emirates but he might just relocate to a European Super League along with other like-minded owners. That is the game’s biggest fear and another story for another day.
Football really has to get a grip and protect the goose that laid its golden egg.
Bob Holmes’ latest book, Living the Dream... or Enduring the Nightmare? tells the extraordinary tales of what happens when predatory owners take over English football clubs. It’s available in all major bookstores.