Various reports today say that Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek is a preparing a bid to try and purchase Arsenal from Stan Kroenke.
The Swede has apparently enlisted former Gunners Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira to be part of his project, and the news come off the back of a Tweet over the weekend in which he signalled his interest:
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.
— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) April 23, 2021
The club is currently valued at just over £2bn, while Ek has an estimated net worth of just under £4bn. Of course that isn’t liquid cash, and what the club is valued at and what Stan Kroenke might sell at are two very different things.
Assuming, of course, that the American billionaire is even open to that in the first place, and despite large fan protests on Friday before the 1-0 defeat to Everton, everything we’ve heard since suggests he has no intention of cashing in at this point.
Speaking to Sky Sports over the weekend, The Athletic’s David Ornstein said, “When criticism comes in they put a shell on and they are resistant to it. It doesn’t affect them. You should see some of the media coverage of Stan Kroenke in the USA.
“He moved his American football team to a different city and he was sharply criticised for that.
“But they have never sold any of their sporting franchises and Arsenal are said to be the jewel in the crown.
“Therefore, there would be no intention to sell – they are not going anywhere.”
So, while the idea of former players being involved in a takeover bid is a romantic one, this doesn’t seem like it’s anywhere near possible right now.
We’ve even got the Poo-o-Meter out, and all things considered this is a sloppy 10.
My fellow native arsenal fans. #kroenkeout must go on ( if there is no corona threat in it for you guys). We need to oust this guy or at the very least put pressure on them to invest and setup a proper footballing pyramid at arsenal.
Regarding ousting the owner, David Ornstein suggests that the Kroenkes aren’t susceptible to that kind of pressure – up to the present day anyway. Probably worth a try, why not, but it’s not likely to succeed.
The only thing they care about is money. To make them sell, you have to hit their pocket. Don’t buy tickets. Don’t buy merchandise. Don’t pay for sky/bt. Go to a local pub (once corona safe) to watch the games, at least they appreciate the business.
Until then, as long as their ‘asset’ holds or increases in value, and they don’t lose money they could not give two fucks.
But not buying tickets, merchandise, paying for TV etc would reduce Arsenal’s income, have a knock-on effect for sponsorship, and thus reduce our strength in the transfer market.
I think we would be in a much better position if they banned us from buying players. Our academy is in great shape too
This is why this needs to be an organised movement across all clubs whose fans overwhelmingly want their owners removed – Man U and the Glazers, Spurs and ENIC, Newcastle and Ashley, West Ham and Gold/Sullivan, maybe Liverpool and FSG. Clubs abroad and in the Football League too. It will fall apart if it’s an Arsenal only thing. Fans who don’t support a boycott accusing those that do of being anti-Arsenal, and vice versa It would make it a far stronger movement if it wasn’t ONLY our club being harmed financially by its support. Secondly, these owners provide strengthen eachother’s… Read more »
Mad to think that West Ham and Liverpool would want their owners removed when they’re having a successful period.
Oh yeah. As if we’re the Last of The Big Spenders already.
Check out what City spend, Chelsea, spend, United spend – and then what we spend. It’s still a pittance compared to the others.
You either want Arsenal to buy the best or you don’t.
Currently we don’t – because Stan doesn’t cough up nowhere near enough and what he does is lent to us, not invested.
Yet some people would still prefer things as they are…..
Nowt to do with Stan coughing up – we spend the same as Chelsea (net). We’re just bad at selling (and buying).
I’m sorry, but who employs the fucking numpties that have been so piss poor on the last season or two at said buying and selling……? All this moaning about the current regime and an opportunity of a takeover comes along and people are queuing up to pick holes in it, whilst conveniently forgetting the sins of the shit show currently in operation. Whatever happened to people waiting and seeing, having an open mind? (and by that I mean the proposed takeover, not the already dead and buried stale ‘Process’ of yore). How badly do we want things to change for… Read more »
NO SHIT! We have to destroy what we love to get it back.
That’s correct, but its short term pain, and if it gets rid of the current ownership, its pain worth taking.
Correct. It sucks. It might get us relegated (further reducing the value of the ‘asset’). I don’t like it.
You want KSE out? This is the ONLY way, outside of some other billionaire overpaying. Billionaires aren’t noted for doing bad business.
There are enough people abroad who WILL keep buying merchandise so they won’t give a toss about the UK fans – they don’t need us anymore.
I think it’s been massively overstated by the owners involved in ESL that non-UK and 16-24 fans don’t care about the traditions of the game, and just want to want to watch highlights of their favourite 90+ rated FIFA player and buy their merch In my experience that’s just not true at all, and the average foreign fan or 16-24 fan care just as much about the sporting integrity of the game, and the health and success of their club I think there is a small group that do just follow specific players around, but they’re mostly limited to Real,… Read more »
Elneny you make a good point but I was simply talking about the balance of spending power.
Completely agree with that Public Elneny. It’s pretty obvious that the Superleague was dreamt up by accountants with zero understanding of football supporters or what it means to be a supporter.
Because most Arsenal fans want #KroenkeOut, Arsenal shouldn’t have foreign fans. Perfect. I have heard and read this utter tripe over and over, be it Twitter or elsewhere. Arsenal is a big club that sits (or should sit) in the same bracket as the Manchester Clubs, the Spanish clubs and all other big clubs? Fine. That means the club has to be a competitive business with a global outreach. Ergo, the club should have foreign fans. Ergo the foreign fans will want some token to share the idea of being connected to the club, which is where merchandising comes in.… Read more »
Murphy, I suggest you read my post again my friend. This time read it carefully.
I was replying to comment suggesting watching games at your local pub is somehow gonna help make Kroenke sell.
Don’t start insinuating I have anything against foreign fans. The beautiful game belongs as much to my nephews and nieces in Pakistan, Switzerland and Spain as it does to the ones I have here.
There’s enough rampant xenophobia throughout our mainstream media for you to direct your rage at.
When you lament that the club no longer cares for UK fans, and seek to chastise foreign fans for buying Arsenal merchandise in the aftermath of this clusterfuck (it’s often prohibitively expensive, let me assure you), there are very few conclusions to draw.
We care just as much.
This is true…
Again, true to a certain extent. Having lived in Denver (yay more KSE bullshit) for going on 17 years, I probably count as one of them now, but there are foreign fans that would do this.
More to the point, the Arsenal are HEAVILY reliant on matchday revenues, more so than any other ‘big 6’ club. So the onus would seem to be on UK fans, no?
I was under the impression matchday revenue is a rapidly dwindling sector of the club’s income. I’m basing this on a single article though.
It certainly is rapidly dwindling right now …
In all honesty I’m not certain. I know we were heavily reliant on it, and the estimated losses of 100m this season would suggest we still are.
I read that figure somewhere earlier. I don’t remember the source. My apologies.
Monetising non-UK fans is not a given for football clubs. And I suspect the most highly engaged/monetisable (ugh) foreign fans may be more willing to stand in solidarity with UK fans than you assume. On this Ek guy, I think he’s generally as objectionable as Kroenke. I would hope fans can use the discussion around ownership change to force a re-opening of the fan ownership issue. Can [insert new capitalist here] be convinced to commit to permanent part fan ownership (or other forms of representation) in exchange for some community/political support for a takeover bid? Keeping in mind that political… Read more »
Monetising non-UK fans is not a given for football clubs. And I suspect the most highly engaged/monetisable (ugh) foreign fans may be more willing to stand in solidarity with UK fans than you assume.
On this Ek guy, I think he’s generally as objectionable as Kroenke. I would hope fans can use the discussion around ownership change to force a re-opening of the fan ownership issue.
Can [insert new capitalist here] be convinced to commit to permanent part fan ownership (or other forms of representation) in exchange for some community/political support for a takeover bid? Keeping in mind that political support can have an impact on financial support.
What is the basis for your assumption?
Yes, that’s an argument certainly. I’m not sure a sufficient number of Gooners would do that for a sufficiently long period to have an effect though.
Apparently, despite the adverse reaction they have had in their US holdings from time to time, the Kroenkes are yet to sell a franchise anywhere. That could be down, in part anyway, to support from Mrs K, who is heiress to the Walmart empire. Not saying it wouldn’t work here in time – but they don’t strike me as quitters (unfortunately).
Biggs why don’t you try – for just one minute – to about how something positive might happen, instead of jumping in with your Eeyore style negative rhetoric.
Honestly mate, it’s a wonder you get out of bed in the morning after you’ve considered all pitfalls of doing so.
*think
US franchises don’t lose value. Because there are a finite number of them, you can run a franchise into the ground and still sell it for top dollar. The Rams (KSE’s NFL franchise) gained value by moving to LA, despite LA fans really not giving a shit. Take a look at the ongoing TV battle between Altitude (KSE TV channel) and Comcast. The Nuggets (NBA) and Avalanche (NHL) are both good for the first time in years. Local fans in Denver (I am one, having moved here from the UK many moons ago) cannot watch the local teams on TV… Read more »
My thumb down doesn’t mean I disagree with you.
I haven’t spent a penny on the club since the 3-1 defeat to Monaco. That’s been my protest for what, the last 6 years or so.
I think KSE will no doubt be considering their position as owners because their absenteeism over the last 15 years clearly highlights that the ESL was always their end vision. To put that in layman’s terms — its your basic stock market portfolio stuff. Spend/invest as little as possible acquiring any asset/stock — hold — until favorable market conditions maximize its value, and then sell. The European Super League would have been the optimum market conditions for the Kroenkes to make as much money as possible, either in dividend payments, or via a sale. They didn’t even buyout Usmanov and… Read more »
But be careful about who you replace them with. The american fund that owns Bordeaux recently announced they’re pulling out and will not support any current of future financial engagement. The club is going bankrupt.
If you think that Arsenal Football Club would ever face bankruptcy – in spite of being a global brand – then you have no idea of their name and it’s standing (in spite of even the slow motion car crash this season has been) in world football.
There will always be someone willing to buy us out.
Some of you really must get a kick out of the idea that we’re going to be stuck with the Kroenkes forever. It’s plain weird….
This comment is dumb naivete.
I don’t care if this doesn’t come off, at least it keeps the story in the news a few more days and adds some pressure on the Kroenkes.
Well said. There’s way too many people willing to throw in the towel and give up before we’ve even started. You make your own dreams and ‘realism’ in this world. If enough bidders and Arsenal fans famous and non famous keep the pressure up with demonstrations and bids, then he’ll eventually snap. Look at what happened last week and tell me it can’t be done. If we, as Arsenal fans, want better days for this club, they ain’t gonna happen under the current regime and the current regime won’t budge if its left undisturbed to its own devices. If we… Read more »
Qwalitee that brought a tear to my eye. We’re in the Spirit of ’89 and it’s 1 minute McMahon time everybody!!
I love your words. I want kroenke out as well and arteta too. i fed up. this is not the club of my childhood. i still remember 2004 season. still watching games but quality is not the same. it’s time to make this club great again.
There’s no guarantee any new boss will b better than the last. But #kroenkeout 4 sure sounds like a good 1st step 2 having our arsenal back
I agree, but I would much prefer an actual Arsenal fan who knows about the sport to own our club than clueless Stan who is purely there for the money.
Those days where fans boast we aren’t anybody’s toy, before games against Chelsea are gone?
There is no consensus on what we want, but it’s clear that Arsenal fans had enough of KSE. I wouldn’t mind the no investing self-sustainable model if the owner genuninly cared and tried his best by running the club smartly (BVB/Leicester come to mind).
The new owners might be worse, but trying something out is better than being stuck.
Yes. We know what we don’t want (Stan/KSE) would probably be more accurate. It’s all down to him in the end though.
I really wouldn’t want a sugar daddy owner, it would feel so hollow even if we were successful with it. We have such a large fanbase and with such huge revenue streams that we should still be consistently challenging for the top4, and sometimes the title without outside investment. If Dortmund and Leicester are able to do it, we have far more financial strength than either of them. But we make idiotic financial and footballing decisions over and over and over. Is it really too much to want owners who have a clue about the industry they’re investing in? Ok… Read more »
Isn’t Spotify the Super League of the music industry? Ask any musician who’s not a massive name what they think Spotify did to them.
Way to shit on our dreams with a 10 on the Poo-o-Meter
Never say never, my friend.
Ornstein is a very knowledgeable fellow but he’s not Moses with The Ten Commandments.
Anything can happen. Keep those dreams alive. 😉
The Kroenke’s don’t sell their sports franchises. This is a non-starter.
And since it is doomed to fail, the only consequence of this approach by Ek et al is that Henry, Bergkamp, and Vieira have basically ensured that they will never be hired by Arsenal for anything in the future.
What I will say though is that I can fully understand why fans would be interested in Ek…or really anyone new at this point. KSE’s ownership has presided over a steady decline in the club’s prestige on and off the pitch, but mostly on. We’re a mid-table team for a reason.
A non starter?
It’s already started, pal.
Business transactions like these can take months, possibly years, but make no mistake it has started.
As for Bergkamp Henry and Vieira never being hired by Arsenal, do you honestly believe those guys want to have ANYTHING to do with the club in a work capacity whilst it’s being run by Kroenke….?
Finally, we’re mid table because of Mikel Arteta and his inability to motivate a squad of internationals, most of them full internationals.
Well, Ek can make as many approaches as he wants, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t hold out much hope of KSE selling Arsenal. As for Henry, etc., they’ve spoken of their desire to work for Arsenal in recent years, and I don’t think it ever came with a caveat about the ownership.
Your pal,
McCheese
Wonder what’s going to happen with arsenal in the coming months. Will Kroenke sell? Will Daniel Ek (assuming he’s the one who buys) be any better? You have to ask, what is he first, an Arsenal fan or a billionaire? Let’s just say, I don’t think you become a billionaire unless you put money first above literally all else. Can a club like arsenal, who money-wise will always be dealing with these “billionaire types” ever have an owner we truly like? Truthfully, I’m not so sure. All I can hope for is an owner who isn’t so negatively intrusive as… Read more »
I didn’t know anything about Ek so I did a load of research on him (I read his wiki).
I think he’s one of those guys who became a billionaire by being in the right place with the right marketable skill set at the right time.
I’m not saying he stumbled over a billion quid down the back of the sofa, more he’s an tech nerd first and a billionaire second.
NPR did an interesting piece on Spotify recently that laid out some of its ethical problems in terms of how artists are paid (or not). Ek and his company are not saints; they’re capitalists. Profits first. Artists second. I don’t think Ek is evil, by the way, there’s no actual blood on his hands (which you might not be able to say about some club owners in world football today), I just think some Arsenal fans are so desperate for a change in ownership that they won’t tolerate anything that would paint a potential buyer as anything other than positive.… Read more »
The Rams move to Los Angeles was only really hammered by local St. Louis media. A lot of national coverage was excited at LA finally getting a team. I think the last week has been far worse for them.
I am only just looking into this – how can a team move from Cleveland to LA to St Louis and then back to LA? I don’t think I’m as persuaded as Ornstein is.
Anyway, even if we do get a benevolent billionaire swooping to the rescue, we will still need legislation to prevent ESL from happening again, I think.
The Rams are definitely an LA team… if anything St. Louis was odd looking back (as the Arizona Cardinals were the original team there for a long time) American sports are odd when looking from the outside.
“Anyway, even if we do get a benevolent billionaire swooping to the rescue, we will still need legislation to prevent ESL from happening again, I think“
Yep. To me, and I realise I may be a lone voice, the issue of who owns arsenal is secondary to creating a league/Europe where no one can bankroll their way to success.
Yes, I know I’m dreaming.
LA had football team before. The Raiders played there for years before moving to Oakland and now to Las Vegas.
Welcome to North American sports where franchises are bought, sold, and moved whenever the owner feels like it….
Actually, the Raiders were originally in Oakland (and successful), then moved to LA, before going back to Oakland and then Las Vegas.
Every major American sport has stories like this. Baseball’s Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. The Philadelphia Athletics went first to Kansas City, then to Oakland. Often, this involves the new city building a stadium at public expense.
You shouldn’t get a team by stealing someone else’s though. You get one by putting together a squad, winning promotions and earning it through sporting merit.
It’s why the ESL and MK Dons move are so despised. It’s the opposite of sport in most of the world and why the US system of no promotion or relegation looks alien and boring to most of us.
The NFL system is good for the NFL; the closed 32 team league is instrumental to it being a great product. But it’s so profitable that owners try to use it for other leagues where it doesn’t really work, like the MLS or NBA.
Obviously it would be disastrous for European football.
Yeah it’s weird over there and in the modern day a lot driven by economies / markets. Like I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Detroit teams moved into more favourable markets soon because of how bad their economic environment has become.
I think in some areas the US get it right for the closed league systems they operate in, especially where most major sports club’s ‘youth academies’ are basically the college system, the way drafts work and how everything is tied together.
Unfortunately that shit just don’t fly over here.
Please forgive this Canadian explaining American football to European football fans but given the discussion I thought it might be helpful to understand the mindset of KSE. In the NFL, the most important source of revenue is a massive TV contract that is evenly split amongst the 30 some odd teams such that all teams are guaranteed money makers despite fluctuations in team performance, attendance, player salaries. etc. The whole system is based on something European football leagues don’t have, COST CERTAINTY. Things such as salary caps, non-guaranteed contracts (owners can walk away from player contracts with the only penalty… Read more »
Well done! I love a Cansplainer!
Do you honestly think Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry would throw their lot in with someone who advocates the ESL…..?
Apologies. My reply above was for Fezec, not you, 😉👍
Brilliant news. Would love this to happen.
…..And cue the Stan loving ‘It’ll never happen/it can’t be done’ numpties…..🙄
People are commenting that it’ll never happen because they love Kroenke ???? Even by your standards that is really weird.
I literally don’t know a single fan of Arsenal that is pro-Kroenke.
Not believing a billionaire will sell one of his sources of wealth to a slightly trendier billionaire has nothing to do with being a ‘Stan loving’ numpty, just an old fashioned dose of realism.
Why would he sell? He doesn’t need a short term gain, he’s sitting on a few bob after all, I imagine he’s happy to play the long game and wait for the dust to settle. Actually, to be honest, I doubt he gives two (let alone 10) shits about the protests.
That’s true, but would he even admit to be willing to sell anyway, so Stan or Josh saying they won’t sell is really them saying ‘not until we get an offer we can’t refuse’…
Even that logic falls apart. If Stan sold he would have a massive capital gain and therefore a huge tax liability. He wouldn’t net anything like the amount it would seem at first, so would be a lot less attractive to them. The LA deal may have cost a lot of money stadium cost overruns) but KSE have lots of partners on that deal (AECOM being the biggest) so they wouldn’t be able to net the gains against losses there. As much as many want to flip this over to an imagined friendlier billionaire this makes no sense for Stan,… Read more »
Heh.
You’ve obviously never met our friend on here. John C
Erm. I think most people (well me, at any rate) are saying “it’ll never happen” because they don’t think KSE will sell, not because they “love” Stan. That’s just such a weird take / accusation, Qwalley. Honestly, who actually likes KSE? You could probably count them on one hand.
Josh, Stan, Mrs Josh, Mrs Stan, Tim Lewis.
Literally one hand…
A boy can dream..
Of a lovely arse.
I agree with Blogs that any takeover becoming a reality is hugely unlikely. Personally, i’ve always felt that Kroenke is waiting for Arsenal to be allowed to directly sell their own tv rights. However, let’s not forget that Kroenke’s ownership was the result of multiple loans from Deutsche bank and many others, he was hardly paying for the movement out of his own pocket. And Kroenke isn’t getting any younger. Stranger things have happened and any of us trying to claim to know Kroenke is lying.
I work with Spotify pretty closely in my line of work. Very well run, they take care of their people and super respectful. This would be an upgrade. Plus maybe we all get Spotify premium?
If they treat Arsenal fans like they treat musicians then i’m not sure that Kroenke is all that bad!
They have a better payment structure than Apple though
Both are massively stacked against musicians
Apple (or the subcontractors who manufacture their phones) use physical punishment for staff who don’t work fast enough, confiscate passports and have monthly cases of suicide…
I’ve forgotten what I was replying to!
I wonder if he can get a tune out of this club
Nice. He seems like a natural fit for a team with such a spotty record.
As an additional benefit we could get an upgrade on the in stadium music.
I wouldn’t change those half-time WWE theme songs, they’re brilliant, especially the Triple H Motorhead song in particular.
Sweet Caroline is dreadful though.
I like it and Bukayo likes it.
If you had a team like the Invincibles, then ‘Montagues and Capulets’ by Prokofiev would be great cranked up to full volume – especially for the big evening kickoffs. The early discord fanfares as the team are lining up outside the dressing room and then they walk out of the tunnel to the main theme. Superb.
With this current lot however, the theme tune to Laurel and Hardy would probably suffice…
“With this current lot however, the theme tune to Laurel and Hardy would probably suffice…”
May I suggest the theme song of the Benny Hill show?
I loved to watch that as a kid and some of the recent games reminded me of that. Basically running around without much purpose in fast forward speed with often catastrophic results. If I remember correctly that was a big part of the show.
🤣👍🍺
Shame about the pittance they pay to the artists though.
A crying shame, but it’s not our problem.
Most of what’s going on in music nowadays is utter shit anyway.
Not our problem that an entire industry has been impoverished? Do you ever wonder why music has turned to shite nowadays? Could you imagine that it’s something to do with new talent not being able to support itself through their music? Or is that just “not our problem”?
I’ve shopped in Walmart. Very well run, they take care of their people and super respectful. The owners husband can’t run a club for toffee though.
All I am saying is that I’ve seen some moral fiber out of that company. They aren’t perfect but I’ve personally seen some good. Can you say the same from Stan? He moved a team our of a city for God’s sake.
I’m not arguing against your experience. Obviously it’s much more up close and personal than any perspective of mine ever will be. But as a lifelong music obsessive I can’t look past the dogshit money this company pays artists for THEIR work whilst the owner has pocketed enough of it to make a bid for one of the biggest football clubs in the world. The same guy whose response to underpaid artists a few months ago was “you need to release more music”. To me that’s like Marie Antoinette telling the starving peasants to eat cake. This guy is at… Read more »
Eking right!
We sold our soul to Emirates in 2004 for 100million, three weeks later we lost what would have been our 50th game unbeaten. It’s weird but I don’t think this club has ever been the same since.
Very true, but instead of falling off a cliff, Wenger’s genius softened the blow and made it a gentle decline. 3 seasons out of 4 we spent less on transfers than the leading championship side, yet kept reaching Champions league knockout stages.
I will never forgive those who let Kroenke take hold of this club.
Oh, I am sure David Dein is quaking in his boots.
What people still fail to realise is Kroenke was let in the door precisely because he wouldn’t take any active interest in the football side of the club. Arsene was in full control at that point and he was as hands off an owner as you can get. Now there’s a power vacuum and we are expecting a 73 year old billionaire to change his spots. It is just plain unrealistic.
He doesn’t have to talk tactics or put the cones out.
All he has to do is splash the cash so we can ‘compete’ PROPERLY – as an investment, not a loan.
Not defending Kroenke in any way, but our issues in recent times are far more about how we’ve spent a lot of money really badly, and let a lot of potential money leave for free, than Kroenke not splashing his own cash.
That’s a fair point blogs. 👍🍺
But are we just going to blame Gazidis and Sanheli for that? Isn’t the blame higher up??
That’s a very good point that doesn’t get much of a mention in all this sorry saga. Most of the shares were sold at a big profit to KSE (or enough of them for control of the club to change) and then the minority shareholder, Usmanov, was eventually forced out because he couldn’t get a seat on the new board. Then the very small shareholders had to sell up. Result: complete control by KSE.
Nothing will come of this, just like nothing will come of #kroenkeout. Arsenal are still valuable, they will no doubt get more valuable and even though we are bang average at the moment I doubt anyone will be willing or able to bid at a price Stan doesn’t believe he will eventually get to himself even when seemingly doing the irritating sum of fuck all.
An Arsenal fan for owner? And a billionaire who is not a crook ? Damn this idea is appealing #kroenkeout #ekinthere
He is a crook! Ask any musician if they think .000003 pence is fair payment for a play of their work. #ekno
Spotify has allowed more than 13,000 artists to be able to say they make music for a living (i.e. earn more than the median national wage). They pour an awful lot of money into programs that support upcoming talent across all genres of music.
I get a minimum of 4 million plays a year on Spotify and get paid less than the UK tax threshold on that. Does that sound fair to you? It’s exploitation.
Give it rest mate. If he was a crook, he’d be behind bars.
You mean like the Putins, Abramovichs, Idi Amins and the Saviles of this world?
So fucking what?
Do we want Arsenal to compete properly or not?
We’ve hardly got an angel for an owner now – and in all the time he’s been with us we’ve competed for the title just once – 2015/16.
Don’t take the moral high ground – because with Kroenke in charge we haven’t got any anyway.
And you can vouch for this guy, the owner of Spotify who invests fuck all in the industry made him a billionaire, to make “Arsenal compete properly”?
Hahaha!
He’s a self made multi billionaire, who loves this club and managed to get three of this club’s greatest ever players to come on board.
A bit different and a darn sight more interesting than the alternative that you’re all trying to sell me – ‘Carry On Cowboy’….
So you’d be happy not being paid properly for your work, and then the person responsible for that using the money to buy a football club?
That might be the most insane, childish, divorced from reality shit you’ve ever said on here, which is saying something.
Funny that, because my views were quite the norm down at the Emirates the other night. I think I know which side my Gooner bread’s buttered best. 😉
Please read the actual comment you’re replying to. I don’t know how to talk to people who don’t know how to be honest with themselves, and treat all human interaction as an opportunity to “win”. No one protesting against Kroenke was protesting against the idea that people can do horrible things and not end up in prison. Your comment makes no sense, unless you view it in the lens of you prioritising protecting your ego above all else. I’m not trying to insult or offend you mate, and I apologise if I did. Signed, Someone who lives in a country… Read more »
anyone, be they human or corporation, who has as much money as ek is criminal.
Spotify have just upped my premium by 2 pound a month so I reckon it’s definitely on.
Can’t say I’m keen on bringing back Henry, Vieira + Bergkamp
Brilliant players who were a real joy to watch
But out of 8 billion people on this planet, are they the executives we need to drive this club forward?
Just because they were brilliant players for us, that doesn’t mean they’re qualified to run a football club and a business this size
What have they done since they’ve stopped playing, that would make anyone think they’re qualified or competent enough?
they have an extremely strong idea of our values though and where we want to be again
I’d bring in The Tuesday Club too.
Some people are never satisfied.
The Kroenkes or three Arsenal legends who absolutely love the club backed by a billionaire?
“Duhhhh, I’m not keen on bringing back Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp….” 🤣
Who cares if they’re legends?
They were legends at playing football, not running billion pound companies
Caring is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike
Emotions are sometimes a bad thing, what we want are killers in the boardroom, not people who’s decisions are clouded by emotion
Well we currently have someone who doesn’t give a shit about The Arsenal.
And that’s working a treat, isn’t it?
I mean it’s just one long procession of Premiership Titles and Champions League Titles.
Seriously mate. Mid table mediocrity. Our worst League campaign for 40 years. And a fan base who are told to ‘trust the Process’ and parrot out to each other that we’re ‘heading in the right direction….’
FFS WAKE UP!
I’m not blind to our position New doesn’t always equate to better though, the sweet smell of optimism, can very quickly turn into a foul smelling turd A new owner will likely saddle us with a 2 billion + debt, there’s nothing to say they won’t use club revenue to pay interest and capital repayments There’s nothing to say they’ll be more competent Theres’s nothing to say they won’t borrow more money, saddle us with more debt, and leave chasing our own tail KSE have been a disaster for Arsenal, but Stan is worth €10 billion, and his wife is… Read more »
“Getting rid of KSE won’t automatically make things better.”
I beg to differ. And so does everyone else who attended the demonstration.
Their popularity alone would unite the fans. That’s a power no businessman has.
I wouldn’t mind all this scepticism if this Ek lad had failed at business.
But from humble one parent family beginnings he’s turned himself into a multi billionaire at a still relatively young age.
You don’t do that by playing Monopoly or FIFA 21 – which is probably the nearest most of those who have criticised this guy have got to that kind of money or a position to be bidding for The Arsenal.
Daniel Ek became a multi-billionaire in about 10 years as the founder and CEO of Spotify. As great as the streaming service is for us listeners, it is constantly being criticised for its extremely low “royalty rate” paid to artists and songwriters. All the while Ek amassed a rather impressive fortune. Makes you really wonder where those billions came from… So the idea that this guy – after spending over half of his net worth to buy a club – would still shell out millions of his own cash to be more agressive than KSE in the transfer market is… Read more »
I remember a number of people on here being delighted by Kroenke taking over. And I must admit that i preferred him massively over Usmanov. The reality is that virtually every billionaire has amassed their fortune by treading over/on others and i’m not sure there’s a single one who would be universally popular. If we’re after a sugar daddy who will pump billions into the squad then I think people need to wake up, that’s simply not going to happen. Ever.
I think we are all spoilt by Abramovich 🙂
However, along with the millions he also gave them Mourinho, twice 🙂 🙂
I’d love to believe this guy spent his youth with dyed red hair, watching replays of freddie scoring bangers- probably not, though.
I’d only be supportive of this if he favours a 51% fan ownership. How we as fans hypothetically raise the capital is another problem all together…
Yes, you’ve put your finger on the main problem/flaw of fan ownership. We’d need to raise about £1billion (assuming KSE were open to sell at the reported £2billion or so). I’ll put £100 in so it’s up to the rest of you to find the balance. There’s usually some cash down the back of sofas though.
If they’re ever going to sell, sureley this is the time! The time is now…sooo Mr. Ek how many premium subs do you need?!?!?
First thing he would do would be to restructure the wages. Instead of being on £180,000 a week a player would instead get £0.0003 for every minute played.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This guys gets it
A mere 4 bill won’t cut it these days. Think you would need a zero after it to buy a club like Arsenal and fund it to the very top where it belongs.
Unless you buy it like the Glazers did and land the club with masses of debt. Four billion isn’t enough to buy a club like Arsenal any other way and I’d rather stick with Kronke if that’s the case.
Look. The club’s value is just under 2 billion. Kroenke probably won’t sell without a profit, so you go in at the lowest possible face value, even under and take it from there. As for liquid cash, have you ever heard of a consortium? Because you can bet your last penny that is what Ek will be putting together. Effectively it’s internal borrowing, but if enough people are interested – and there are at least two Nigerian Arsenal fan billionaires plus Flamini to consider – then there are definitely possibilities plus – and here’s the crucial difference – they’re all… Read more »
I might be wrong, but I believe a lot of people are afraid of cancelling their season tickets and memberships as we would go to the back of the queue. However, I would love the AST (or similar) to set up a New Waiting list for supporters that have given up their ST’s/membership until we change ownership. After we change ownership these people would then be at the front of the waiting list. That would certainly make it easier for me to cancel mine, and we would have a rough idea of the numbers of members disenfranchised by Kroenke and… Read more »
Good idea, even if I’ve already decided to take that step even without another waiting list. This is what I wrote to Arsenal in reply to an email from them to me about not renewing my membership: Thanks for the reply, but I’ve lost confidence in the club and, in particular, the owners of the club. I grew up with Pat Jennings and Liam Brady as my role models and have been a formal member for many years, long enough to finally making Silver membership the other year. I have a UEFA coaching badge myself and I have trained a… Read more »
And to you sir, I doff my cap. Sadly not everyone will be as brave as you.
There I was allowing my hopes to elevate a bit, and Blogs goes and wheels out the poo-ometer and covers our dreams in … (sigh).
Looks like I will have to go around picking up cones with my mate Ryo today. That always lifts the spirits!
Cheer up mate.
We’re gonna beat Emery’s mob on Thursday and everything will be forgotten and all will be rosy in the garden and our esteemed owners will lead us to the promised land. A land flowing with Premiership titles and Champions League trophies….
🙄
Billionaires (smart money) cash in at the top, never at the bottom. If this takeover goes through it will signal the end of arsenal. Its not going to happen.
You always have a Hicks and Gillett to a Glazer. It all depends on the situation. For e.g., what will happen if the Emirates is opened and we just don’t turn up? Like, 200 people at a home game? Nobody can take that kind of reputational damage.
If attendances were down to the hundreds for home games over any length of time you may be on to something, but that wouldn’t happen – it really wouldn’t.
If we can organize a protest outside the stadium, sure we can organize a walk-out.
Hicks and Gillette sold because the banks were closing in on them as they had leveraged the buyout in 2007 just before the financial crash and couldn’t make the interest payments. All of the Scousers running around shouting their mouths off wouldn’t have made one iota of difference if the mortgage backed industry hadn’t collapsed. This fan power narrative is intoxicating but also mostly bollocks. The ESL collapsed because the owners of Chelsea and Man City are in this for global reputation washing not profit (or even sustainability). They bailed because of calls from FIFA and politicians that could impact… Read more »
What do mean ‘signal the end of Arsenal’….?
The end of The Arsenal – as we all knew it – has already happened.
This sounds romantic but highly unlikely…
As a musician this would be absolutely the worst thing that could happen to this club. This man made his fortune by ripping me & millions of others off, and has made many ludicrous comments when confronted about it (essentially saying we don’t work hard enough). EK NO!
I’m no leftist but we need some proper activism here. We must be looking to break records on low attendance every week. We must get a global campaign going to boycott shirt sales. Remember how the WengerOut lot got its way (I was Wenger In by the way)? We need that on a scale of x10000.
Deprivation of income will only hurt our purchasing power in the transfer market.
Not interested in the transfer market mate. I just want my club back.
Who needs a club we can enjoy and be proud of when there’s a transfer market bauble to celebrate.
This is simply splendid news. Getting former Arsenal players who involved seems smart. Some have you have been complaining about ek’s moral issues. However we can’t pretend KSE has never had moral issues.(I’ve said moral issues a lot haven’t I). At least will have that cares about the club and is willing to put money in
Well said.
Does the guy love The Arsenal? Yes he does.
Will he (and in all probability an internal consortium of fellow rich Arsenal fans) have enough to pay Kroenke off? Combined, they probably will.
That’ll do for me.
Unfortunately, given Spotify’s internal pressure and censuring record in USA, we would most likely see a reframing of Arsenal. Permission to be a season ticket holder would be based on ‘oppressed’ status to promote inclusivity, chants would be banned, and the Arsenal crest would change to a rainbow.
I’m not sure why you think the owner of a music streaming service would want to ban the chants, but otherwise, it doesn’t actually sound too bad.
Spotify just announced a one euro increase for the Premium subscription monthly fee. Coincidence? I don’t think so 😀 😀
He’s got no hair, but we don’t care!
We certainly don’t care. Stan has a moustache – and look where that’s got us!
But he does have a massive porpoise head, doesn’t he?
Well let’s face it, it couldn’t be any fucking worse than what we have now 😉
The value of Arsenal will continue to drop. No European football next season. We aren’t winning the Europa League let’s be real, this team is dead. I think if we fans continue the pressure and the club continue to take big financial losses, the Kroenkes will look for a way out before they lose even more value. They have the club because it’s an asset, the loss in revenue hurts then more than not winning matches. A good offer could push them to sell
Protest all you like. He’s not going anywhere. Get used to it.
…..and I detest the man.
You could have fooled me.
Do you expect us to stand around and do nothing? We won’t show up to the games we won’t buy jerseys we won’t stop protesting til he’s out of the club. KROENKE OUT
Good luck with that.
I wish I was a multi billionaire and could buy Arsenal.
This would explain the upcoming price rise for Spotify Family accounts!
As far as Spotify goes, not like they are the only ones out there with that model. If it hadn’t been them, it would have been someone else. The music industry wasn’t going to stay with album sales. Beyond that, even assuming a bid goes forward, it’s highly unlikely he’d buy Arsenal entirely out of his own pocket. He’s not rich enough where I’d see that as likely. He’s not in the ball park of Abramovich or Dangote, or Kroenke himself. But that might be a good thing. Maybe it opens the door for a significant fan ownership. Or for… Read more »
This would be awesome. Only buyer thats better would be Flamini…and i dont think he’s THIS rich yet.
I get the clamour for fan ownership, but the opportunity to do this was lost years ago. It’s simply not realistic nor is it legal to enforce. The best hope we have is to find a rich owner who is an arsenal fan. No billionaire is going to come with a flawless track record but it’s the very best we can hope for. I actually think despite the noises it’s quite possible Stan will sell. Reputation aside, Without the ESL or significant investment (haha) their asset has peaked and will likely decline. If they were smart, they would sell now.
Best post you’ve ever put up here. 👍🍺
A billionaire that’s made money from more modern means or ‘new money’ might be a good look and could bring much needed creativity commercially and I’d hope it happens. I’m surprised more tech billionaires don’t invest football clubs. (Flamini are you rich enough yet?) But 1. For the Kroenkes it has to be an offer they can’t refuse and it’s going to take a consortium of sorts or Mr Ek taking a substantial loan out to fund it and will likely be planted onto the club. 2. They may say the won’t sell but I remember Mr Usmanov doing something… Read more »
i want kroenke out. i am arsenal fan from pakistan. i am sick and tired of all those defeats. look at out current position in the table! it’s bizarre. It’s time to get rid of kroenke and arteta. Sign valverde who managed barca previously or allegri. I want cups. enough is enough. This is not the same old arsenal club anymore.
And the truth shall set you free….
Come on, blogs, let us have this fantasy for a few days … just because KSE have never sold a franchise doesn’t mean they never will.
every billionaire is a horrible person
Hall of Fame Thierry is going to send Kroenke to the Wall of Shame
Only way to make this happen would be for home fans to boycott Arsenal and hit them hard in the pocket. Can’t see it happening as Arsenal fans simply won’t mobilise to do this..but..its the only way they will even vaguely consider selling. Make it impossible for them to stay on. Sad state of our club now..Arsenal and even Football as we once knew it is dead and buried now..fucking shame
Ornstein’s been wrong before
Not often, but it happens.
Fans are simple human beings. They want the owners to spend big on players.
Big spender = good owner
Scrimpy = bad owner
Daniel Ek would probably change things. But would he buy M’bappé, Haaland and de Breune? Hardly.
How do you know?
And if so, what are next weeks Lotto, Euro Millions and Set For Life numbers, oh soothsayer….
Bloody Ek!
Didn’t expect to see this shit regurgitated on Arseblog to be fair. Everybody knows this is absolute rubbish story based upon a single tweet.
Ask Bergkamp.
Ask Henry.
Ask Vieira.
Still, what do they know about it that you don’t….? 🤣
Where does it say anywhere that this actually happened? “Apparently” this, “According to reports that” just shit journalism based off other shit publications
If Ek is the answer because he’s a fan then what happened to Wenger? Why did we kick him out? Sure the Kronke’s don’t know the sport, but Wenger sure did. Everyone says the owners don’t listen to the fans. Well, this was one time I wish they didn’t listen to us. Then Wenger could have had the respect and time needed to transition the club successfully instead of this.
Well there you go. The sheep who were moaning about the 4th Place Trophy and bleating’Wenger Out’ have got exactly what they deserved.
Mid table mediocrity.