Spotify’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Daniel Ek, is plotting a bid for Premier League giants Arsenal, according to reports.
Ek, who is said to be worth £3.38 billion, according to Forbes, and was named as Billboard’s 2017 most influential individual in the music business, has enlisted legendary Arsenal trio Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira in his bid to take over the top-tier team.
On Friday evening, thousands of Gunners fans turned out ahead of the fixture against Everton to protest against the club’s current owner, Stan Kroenke, after the club withdrew from the hugely controversial European Super League (ESL).
In the wake of the breakaway division’s collapse, there have been calls for the resignation of Kroenke, who assumed full control of the Premier League side in 2018.
Swedish billionaire and entrepreneur Ek confirmed his interest in buying the club on social media, tweeting on Friday: “As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for Arsenal as long as I can remember. If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer Henry told The Telegraph that he was ‘genuinely shocked’ by Arsenal’s decision to back the ESL, reiterating that he ‘couldn’t believe what was unfolding’.
“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,” the Frenchman, who played for the club between 1999 and 2007, told the British newspaper.
“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.”
However, Josh Kroenke, the son of the Arsenal owner, recently stated that his father has ‘no intention’ of selling the club.
“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,” he reaffirmed, speaking at Arsenal’s fan forum.
He also apologised to supporters at the meeting alongside Arsenal Chief Executive, Vinai Venkatesham, for the ‘terrible’ mistake the club had made, but maintained that the pair were ‘not the authors of this proposal’.
Elsewhere, the Irish Mirror has reported that Manchester United’s owners have set a £4 billion asking price on the club, suggesting that the significant sum would ‘tempt brothers Joel and Avram (Glazer), who effectively run the club, to relinquish control’.
Ed Wooward has already announced his intention to step down from his role at the club, in the wake of the fallout from the ESL’s collapse.
