Arsenal shareholders are more optimistic of a future without manager Arsene Wenger, than one with the Frenchman.
Arsenal Holding’s unchanged share price on Friday, after Wenger said he was pulling the plug on a 22-year career as club manager at the end of the season, could pass for a lukewarm reaction from investors.
However, stretch the trend further and it appears investors had long cheered the news which became official on Friday but has raged on behind closed doors for some time now, after a 2017/2018 campaign that will probably be the club’s second season running without partaking in the lucrative UEFA Champions league.
Arsenal’s share price has rallied since the turn of 2018 amid intensifying calls for the French manager to step aside.
The club’s share price was up some 102.7 percent to 3.7 million pounds as of April 18 compared to the same period last year, according to data obtained from the Financial Times market portal.
The club’s thinly traded stock set a record for highest volumes since 2013, when 42 units were traded on January 28, 2018, to lift the share price by 0.5 percent to 2.8 million pounds from 2.786 million pounds the day before.
For context, a daily average of two units has been traded in the period between 2015 to date, excluding January 28.
The trend offers clues that investors are cheering Wenger’s exit from the club, information they probably had months before it became official on Friday.
Wenger’s decision to quit was not an overnight decision, and investors who have money at stake had already priced in the event of his exit as early as the start of the year. So even if the stock is stagnant today, the market has prematurely reacted to his exit.
It is unclear if Wenger’s exit strengthens the resolution of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, to snap up commanding shares at the club, after publicly stating in 2017 that he would sack Wenger if he had the chance.
“The first thing I would change is the coach. He has done a good job, but someone else should also try his luck,” Dangote said at the time.
“If they get the right offer, I’m sure they would walk away,” he said, referring to the club’s shareholders. “When we finish the refinery, I think we will be in a position to do that.
Dangote’s refinery is edging towards a 2019 completion date.
In a shock move on Friday, April 19, Arsene Wenger announced he will leave Arsenal football club at the end of this season, “After careful consideration and following discussions with the club,” the 68-year old said.
Fan patience has been wearing thin for Wenger, who failed to win the English Premier League title in the 14 years since he last won it in 2004.
The club’s shareholders have not been as disappointed with the Frenchman, under whom the club achieved record revenues and profit by selling players bought for a paltry sum to wealthy football clubs across Europe.
The club’s net profit rose 502 percent to 35 million pounds in 2017 compared to 5.8 million pounds in 2013, while earnings jumped 51 percent to 424 million pounds in the period under review.
The team currently sits sixth in the Premier League, which would see them miss out on the lucrative UEFA Champions League next year, unless they win the Europa League tournament.
They face Spain’s Atletico Madrid in the semi-final next week.
No replacement has been announced but Chief executive Ivan Gazidis revealed Arsenal will be “open-minded, brave and bold” in their search to replace Wenger as manager.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and former captain Patrick Vieira, current head coach of New York City FC, are among bookmakers’ favorites to replace Wenger, according to SkyBet.
Asides winning three premier league titles, Wenger won a record 7 FA cups.
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