Originally Posted by
Ears are alight
Well, we've abolished slavery a fair while ago so all employment contracts are capable of being terminated. What matters here is the consequences of that happening. If banks lend money to the club for repayment over 20 years with interest paid at a specific rate, the club can plan its cashflows with greater certainty. Which is what you need is you've just borrowed to the hilt to build a new ground. But the banks want as much certainty as they can get that the club will continue to be run well in order to commit for that length of time.
What seems to be hinted at in the article is that the banks also wanted the ability to renegotiate the terms of the loan if Wenger were to quit or even had he been fired. I would guess fomr this that Wenger no longer being the manager would have triggered a default clause in the loan agreements, enabling the banks to demand immediate repayment if they wished to, or else to increase the rate of interest they were being paid to reflect greater risks, perhaps to introduce some repayment instalments in the early years that otherwise were fully backended etc, etc.
Of course I also think Wenger, simply put, is an honourable man and seeing that others were relying on him being there for the duration in order to be able to assemble the stadium financing for a project that was in great part of his making, he was happy to commit to that, and see it through. Don't forget that all of this Emirates project was really, really difficult to get done, and it's a stunning achievement in its own right.
The now allegedly much missed David Dein had preferred an alternative, simpler idea of knocking Highbury down and doing a permanent groundshare at the new Wembley with Spurs a la Inter/AC Milan at the San Siro. Of course in his mind that would have gone along with him running the FA as well.
Thank god (and Wenger) that that didn't happen.
