Football

Let’s just look at your comments about Chelsea.

Abramovich has called off the stadium redevelopment. The timing of this appears to the tabloids and those that slavishly regurgitate their speculation (and thankfully you are a Guardian reader) to coincide with the curious incident of his failure to secure renewal of his visa and his taking of Israeli citizenship.

Of course, due to the latter, the former is of little relevance. He has not yet bored of football or of Chelsea. He turned down a sum greater than the valuation of Arsenal for Chelsea. He has spent significantly in this transfer window.

His decision to halt the stadium expansion is more likely to have been determined by macroeconomic issues. The stadium would require Abramovich to stump up somewhere in excess of £0.5 bn of his own money. Most of his assets are not held in Sterling. He would be converting dollar and euro assets into sterling at a time when sterling’s value is in question. A hard Brexit will cause significant damage to the price of the pound. Why use dollar and Euro backed assets to purchase sterling assets which might be worth only a fraction of what they are now? It would be very silly. Better to wait and see what happens to the pound. He could save 50% of the cost of the stadium build if he waits until March.

Even then, is a new stadium worth it? Ten years or more ago, Arsenal thought so. Seven years ago, Abramovich thought so. Match day income was a very important component of a club’s income. Today, with the ludicrous figures being paid for television rights, it is far less significant.

So, why waste money by buying sterling at a time of great uncertainty particularly when the importance of a big stadium is not what it was. More important today is success in the pitch and trophies in the cabinet.