There are various reasons for the opposition: there are real moral concerns about the provenance of Usmanov’s money and his way of operating; there are worries about the club becoming a billionaire’s toy (look at Hearts for an example); there is the possibility of destroying a perfectly good structure that is doing everything the fans want (including potentially driving away Arsene Wenger and many of our players); there is the threat to the club’s long-term financial well-being (debt-loading, asset-stripping, dividend extraction all being possibilities).

At a political level, I would ask that you and your colleagues at Westminster closely scrutinise the situation, since Usmanov is unlikely to fail the FA’s “fit and proper person test”. That test depends on criminal convictions – Usmanov’s conviction by the Soviet authorities was expunged when the USSR broke up and Usmanov became an oligarch, building up his wealth by buying up state-owned assets at very low prices. As has been seen at Manchester City, the “fit and proper person test” has such a limited application that it can’t be relied upon to keep out those who should be kept out of football club ownership.

I would feel less concerned about Usmanov if he brought a defamation action against Craig Murray, as Murray has requested, so that the allegations against Usmanov could be tested in court by reference to evidence. But Usmanov has refused to do this, which in my opinion only underlines the concerns we should have about him.

We need as much help as we can get to resist a takeover nobody at Arsenal wants or needs, and which threatens the future of our club.