June 09, (THEWILL)- The push to take over Arsenal from the Kroenke family has been a hot topic around the north London English Premier League side for longer than most Arsenal fans can remember. Nigeria’s own, Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, continues to reserve interest in owning controlling shares in the club at some future date even if a sizeable section of the fanbase wished it could be sooner.
That was why when the news broke, as reported by THEWILL at the end of April, that Daniel Ek, the founder of Swedish audio streaming and media services provider Spotify, was invested in wresting control from the tight-fisted palms of current owner Stan Kroenke, it caused a fresh wave of excitement among supporters, who have long dreamed of a new direction for the club.
THEWILL recalls that Ek’s proposal to buy Arsenal came to light in the aftermath of the involvement of the Gunners in the now-defunct European Super League scandal that evoked major fan protests against Kroenke, his ownership of the club and the decisions that have brought nothing but decline to the once proud grounds of the Gunners home.
However, Ek’s £1.8bn bid for the club at the time was flatly rejected. The Kroenke family categorically told the Swede that they “didn’t need the money”. And this, even though Ek’s bid team included the support of Arsenal legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira, the trio of whom were going to be involved in the planned revamp of the team upon taking over.
Recently, Forbes, the global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle, valued the Emirates’ club as the eighth most valuable football club in the world. Contained in the financial publication’s latest annual list, the club was pegged at being worth the equivalent of £1.99bn.
This lands higher than the £1.8bn that Ek initially proposed and it makes the Gunners the joint 43rd most valuable team across all sports in the world, which is a mean feat especially given how spendthrift they have been since former manager Arsene Wenger tightened finances in the funding process of the new Emirates stadium.
Yet, there could be a fresh push to get the takeover off the finish line for good. Once again, it is Ek making the moves after the Spotify co-founder returned to renew his bid, as the Arsenal fan he has been since his childhood makes him want to improve the club both on the pitch of play and off of it.
This time Ek wants to win and to demonstrate his seriousness, he is coming with a bid in excess of £2bn. He holds that Kroenke will give this a more definitive consideration as the disaffection of Arsenal fans towards Stan and the Kroenke family shows no sign of letting off.
It is uncertain if that will sway the Kroenkes. The son, Josh Kroenke, who is deputy chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment UK, previously reiterated that the family had “no intention of selling”. His father first bought shares in Arsenal in 2007 before achieving a controlling majority in 2011. He eventually bought out the remaining shares in 2018 to assume full ownership.
There is also the Dangote angle. As another lifelong supporter of the red side of London, the multi-billionaire has never hidden his determination to seize control of the management of the club and turn it into a productive, independently-run business project.
However, years of ambitious public statements from the industrialist and commodities mogul have so far never yielded a formal offer, though he recently renewed the debate of his takeover by claiming to have a plan to take over once his business interests of a privately-owned oil refinery in his home country of Nigeria was completed.
These bids still depend on the Kroenkes to become reality. Whether Josh and Stan will budge is uncertain. The push by fans for a change at the helm and whatever attractive prospects are contained in the proposals may play a role in determining how they respond but only time will tell in whose hands the ownership of the north London club will rest when this is all over.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
