Arsenal three weeks away from stadium deal
Peter Hill-Wood said today that Arsenal will have the £200million needed to complete the funding for the club's new stadium at Ashburton Grove by the middle of next month.
Arsenal chairman Hill-Wood said: "I am very confident, more confident than I have ever been, that we will raise the money we require. At the moment, I would say that we will have the finance within three or four weeks. We think we are getting very close and we are very upbeat about it. We believe we have overcome all the stumbling blocks and we should be going ahead early in the New Year.
"Ken Friar and Danny Fiszman have been working on solving the Compulsory Purchase Order problems and they have made great progress." Chief shareholder Fiszman, chief executive Keith Edelman and his predecessor Friar have been working towards completing deals which will ensure Arsenal can finance the project. Arsenal have already secured £250m of the £450m needed to build the 60,000-capacity stadium.
Earlier this week, Standard Sport revealed that Arsenal could have the opportunity to move into a new stadium in Stratford, east London, should the capital win its bid to stage the 2012 Olympics.
After the games, the stadium's capacity will be reduced from 80,000 to 60,000 - the same as Ashburton Grove. It would also provide a ready-made - and considerably cheaper - alternative. But Hill-Wood insists agreement is near and that despite numerous objections and obstacles, the new stadium would go ahead. Some £100m has already been spent while a new sponsorship deal with Nike and the conversion of Highbury into flats will bring in around £150m to leave a £200m shortfall.
Hill-Wood added: " Of course at times you are always worried whether you will get the finance but we are now very close to getting the money we need."
Meanwhile, manager Arsene Wenger is considering recalling Moritz Volz from his loan spell at Fulham to cover for Lauren during his four-match suspension following September's controversial clash at Old Trafford.
