The possibility of Spotify’s co-founder purchasing Arsenal has gathered steam ever since his tweet went viral on Friday evening.
Amid the European Super League fallout and “Kroenke Out” protests outside the Emirates Stadium last week, billionaire Daniel Ek suggested he would consider taking the reins at Arsenal – if Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) were willing to sell up.
“As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for @Arsenal as long as I can remember,” Ek said. “If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring.”
Ek is the CEO of music streaming service Spotify. According to Forbes the 38-year-old Swede’s net worth stands at $4.7bn (£3.38bn), while the company – founded in 2006 – is worth £54bn (£38.8bn).
So far Ek’s supposed interest has been indicated through this solitary post on Twitter, but the entrepreneur is reportedly considering a takeover bid with three Arsenal legends supporting him.
According to the Telegraph, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira are working with Ek to prepare a formal offer to Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke.
The trio were instrumental in Arsenal’s 2003-04 “Invincibles” campaign, where the Gunners won the Premier League without losing a single game.
Now, Bergkamp, Henry and Vieira could have a hand in a board reshuffle at the club and force the Kroenkes to listen to a potential offer.
At the weekend, Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer Henry said he no longer recognises the club he first joined back in 1999.
“This club belongs to the fans, I love the club and I will support the club until I die, but I do not recognise my club and what happened just now, with them trying to join a league that would have been closed, makes no sense to me,” Henry told the Telegraph.
“They have been running the club like a company, not a football club, and they showed their hand. Maybe it’s a lack of understanding of the core football values and maybe the money was too big of a temptation. But whatever it was, they got it wrong. Badly wrong.”
Will KSE sell the club?
Stan Kroenke, who himself has a net worth of $8.2bn (£5.89bn), has been the majority shareholder of Arsenal since 2011, but has faced calls from supporters to sell the club after they intended to join the European Super League.
His son Josh Kroenke, a director at Arsenal, faced the fury at a Fans’ Forum on Thursday evening, where he insisted KSE are not considering selling the club.
Asked when KSE wanted to sell, Kroenke replied: “I am not willing to answer that question because we have no intention of selling.
“I believe we are fit to carry on in our position as custodians of Arsenal. We were put in a very difficult position by forces outside of the club.
“We have the same plans for summer that we had several weeks ago and I’m still excited about those. So I might be met with mistrust, I might be met with scepticism, but over time I hope to establish some sort of relationship with our supporter groups and show them that we are capable of taking our club forward.”
Arsenal fans were not the only ones to protest their ownership amid the ESL fiasco, with Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham supporters also making their feelings known over the past week.
Chelsea fans descended on Stamford Bridge to protest the ESL proposals last Tuesday, with all six Premier League clubs going on to withdraw from the breakaway league that night.
The subsequent backlash has put the spotlight on ownership in England, with tough new checks on the owners and directors of football clubs to be considered by a fan-led review set up by the Government.
Elsewhere, Manchester United’s co-owner Joel Glazer said he was “personally committed to rebuilding trust” with the club’s fans, while Liverpool owner John W Henry was equally bullish, insisting FSG’s work “isn’t done” on Merseyside.
Follow i sport on Facebook for more Arsenal news, interviews and features
More on Arsenal
- Cunningham: Arsenal’s players should ask for their money back after Kroenke’s £325m windfall
- Is it really worth it? Arsenal need to take a long, hard look at their relationship with this super agent
- Daniel Storey: Arsenal have accepted gradually slipping standards for too long
- The road to 2024: How a new Champions League format could leave Arsenal high and dry
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2QTS2N4
Post a Comment