Peter Hill-Wood and Keith Edelman met US billionaire Stan Kroenke in a New York hotel because they do not want loose cannons on the deck of their ship.
It is dangerous to have two major shareholders, David Dein and Kroenke, outside the club. Two loose cannons is one too many and that's why they scooted over to the Big Apple to meet the American sports tycoon.
So they met Stan and came back and reported to big chief Danny Fiszman and he said : put out a statement saying Arsenal can work with Kroenke. Great ! The club say they will send a message to Arsenal shareholders, giving details of that meeting, in the next few days. Fine !
In all this we have to read between the lines. We have to guess. My guesses are (1) Stan knows more about football than Hill-Wood thought he did and (2) Kroenke and Wenger have been talking. It looks as if Kroenke and Wenger have been talking.
Clearly, Stan realises that AFC with Arsene in harness is worth a lot more than it is without him. At most football clubs the manager is an employee but Arsenal is not most clubs and Arsene Wenger is not most managers. He is very happy at Arsenal and the directors know he is very happy and will not leave,
A useful rule of thumb might be this : think of what you imagine AW's power is at Arsenal, then double it.
Kroenke might want Wenger to sign a three-year contract before he takes over, and it is even possible (whisper this) that Wenger might make Kroenke coming on board a condition of his agreement to extend his contract.
Next move for the board? Make Stan a director.
Bring Stan over in October and sit him onstage at the AGM. Then the Yank is one of us. He becomes one of us. He becomes one of the family. He becomes real, someone the fans can relate to, rather than a mystery man from the Rocky Mountains. London is the world capital of presentation and Arsenal think they are pretty good at presentation and their message would be : We like Stan and and Stan likes us and we are all big sports executives.
Next move after that? Sell Arsenal to Stan in summer 2008.
A Yank owns the Bank of England club but it's just a reshuffle in the family.
QED.
Why do I envisage that scenario?
Well, Arsenal need somebody to take them to the next level but up till three weeks ago I thought Danny's task for the next nine months was to find another billionaire who is not Arab or Russian. Now I don't think he needs another billionaire. The available Yank is as good as any and better than most.
Danny is a seller and Stan is a buyer. So it's just a matter of how it's done and when it's done. A matter of timing and price and a thousand little details to guarantee the DNA of the club.
Next step : get Stan on the board. Then he is a friend, not a predator.