TheSportsCampus

Arsenal's second largest shareholder, Alisher Usmanov has hit out at the Board of Directors and largest shareholder American Stan Kroenke about their running of the club after star striker Robin van Persie announced that he would not be signing a new contract at the club. Usmanov, along with Farhad Moshiri, owns 29% of Arsenal through investment company Red & White.

In a very scathing open letter to the management, they declared that they had "serious concerns about the approach of the Board and the management team."

The letter condemned the public comments by Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis which led supporters to believe that Red & White was "in some bitter stand-off with the board." It also said that Red & White had invested 200 million pounds in the equity of the club, and they would never try to "destabilize or create conflict at the club".

The letter also commented on the receding ambitions of the club, stating that "a place in the Champions League will be the pinnacle of our ambition again next season. Unfortunately, in the future we may see this ambition lowered further". With Robin van Persie not signing a new contract, the letter said that "we are faced with losing out true marquee player at the Club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies. Where are the safeguards to ensure that this doesn't happen again and again in the future? As a top Club we should, at the very least, match if not beat the offers that other clubs make to try and lure our very best players away, and also provide a more compelling vision of the future." It added that their vision was to create "a debt free club, with a big enough war chest to buy top talent players who can hit the ground running and who can complement the club's long tradition of developing young players and homegrown talent."

However, Red & White also removed any speculation over their long-term commitment in the cub, announcing that it was ready to purchase more shares from potential sellers, and would proudly retain their holding in the club.