The co-founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, has launched an audacious bid to buy Arsenal and has teamed up with several Gunners legends to make it happen.
[ MORE: How to watch PL in the USA ]
Following the huge fan protests at Arsenal after the club joined, then quickly pulled out of the European Super League, various reports have stated that the current owners, the Kroenke family, are keen to sell the north London club.
That is where Swedish billionaire, and the chief executive and co-founder of Spotify, Ek, comes in.
According to our partners in the UK at Sky Sports, Ek has asked three of Arsenal’s legendary ‘Invincibles’ in Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira to help him try to purchase the club from American businessman Stan Kroenke.
It is believed that Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira would be investors as well as being involved in the club in some capacity.
Vieira and Henry to coach the team with Bergkamp as the sporting director? Oh my. Arsenal fans, chill.
Last week Ek revealed he is a long-time Arsenal fan and posted a message on social media saying he would throw his hat into the ring to potentially buy the club.
The Swedish businessman is reportedly worth $5.7 billion, which is less than the $8.3 billion of Kroenke’s personal wealth.
Would Kroenke sell Arsenal?
This is perhaps the biggest issue for Ek and the Arsenal legends.
Kroenke has shown no sign of ever wanting to sell Arsenal and in recent years has fought hard to increase his ownership stake in the club.
The man who owns the LA Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids has been the majority shareholder at Arsenal since 2011 and over the last decade the fans have not been happy with the way the clubs has been run and there have been multiple protests across many seasons.
Kroenke may see this as the perfect time to get out, as the finances of Arsenal have been hit hard by four-straight seasons without the Champions League and of course the coronavirus pandemic.
A good investment for Ek?
Arsenal being involved in the Super League discussions shows that they are still a financial power despite their poor results on the pitch, and Kroenke knows that.
It feels like it will take a lot for Ek to take charge of Arsenal as the likes of Farhad Moshiri and Alisher Usmanov tried, and failed, for many years to do so before they gave up.
Compared to Moshiri and Usmanov, Ek is a total newcomer and that could work in his favor. Arsenal could also do with a clean slate after years of unrest about first Kroenke and then Arsene Wenger.
But it still seems unlikely that Kroenke will sell Arsenal, no matter how ugly fan protests become.
