Mikel Arteta says the Kroenke family have sent a strong message about their commitment to Arsenal after releasing a statement dismissing suggestions they could be tempted to sell the club.
As rumours swirled yesterday that Spotify’s billionaire founder Daniel Ek was raising funds for a potential bid, the Americans took the sting out of the situation by making clear they “will not entertain any offer.”
Their stance comes despite huge opposition from supporters who protested against them in their thousands last Friday.
“We spoke to them and I think they were very clear,” said Arteta on Wednesday morning.
“They showed the commitment to the football club and their ambition for the football club. We all want a successful team on the pitch, I think they were very clear and it took any doubts out of the situation, I think.
“A lot of talks and speculation has been surrounding the situation in the last week or so. Our fans raised their voices during the match against Everton but now we have a very clear and committed statement from the ownership. I think when they said what they said last night, that that [doubt] is gone. They’ve showed the commitment and the desire to take the team where we all want. I think it’s clear that we’re moving forward.
“I said from the beginning what my perception was, all the communications I’ve had with them. They are fully excited and committed to this project and they want to push everybody to do what we want to do.”
On Daniel Ek having the backing of Arsenal legends – it has been reported that Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry are helping him build his proposal – and the prospect of such a consortium causing a split amongst the fanbase, he added: “Listen, I cannot control the speculation and what is going on. What I like to know and talk about is the reality. And the reality is that we have owners that are really, really committed and that they want a successful team on the pitch and they are going to do everything they can to achieve that. This is what we have and I am fully supportive of them.”
More supporter protests are set to take place at the Emirates this weekend and they could become a running theme for the foreseeable future.
“Again, this is nothing I can control,” said Arteta. “They have the freedom and the possibility to express themselves. If you ask me as a manager what I want towards the team, obviously, I want stability around all the sectors at the club because I know it’s the best for the players and the best for the performances of the team. The players need their supporters fully committed behind the team. The moment we have them in our stadium, I’m sure that will be the case.”
Looking on from afar, Arsene Wenger didn’t seem to rate Ek’s chances of sealing a takeover despite his PR offensive over the last few days. Speaking to beIN Sports about the situation, he said: “For the project, the best deals are made when nobody knew about it and you come out and it is done.
“Once you announce things, you have a mountain to climb after. Nobody wants to give in and I think it is better always if you do your deal, then when it is done you come out and tell people what you want.
“I will always support first Arsenal. If I can help Arsenal, I will do it as well, in any way. That’s my answer.
“After that I am happy in my life today. Overall I am not in any demand.”
In fairness, we have made many signings over the past years, just not smart ones. I think the biggest problem we have is recruitment, not KSE funding
And contract negotiation! Too many decent players walking away for less than peanuts and a whole heap of average players on superstar wages so they cannot be shifted on to anyone else.
Yes, it has cost the club a fortune (literally) over the years. No club is perfect and I’m sure we can all point to examples elsewhere, but Arsenal have been particularly poor in this respect.
Just to show that we’re not “cured” yet, the club has allowed Laca’s contract to run down to almost its final year so if we want to sell him in the Summer, it’s likely to be for quite a lot less than we could have expected. If this can be avoided in future, it should be.
might have sold him last summer except for the market being what is was
yup, and again i feel the transitional team after one man wenger era is lacking. I am not sure that arteta-edu-vinai would take arsenal to where we want us to be. We need a very strong footballing executive/director.
We’ve appointed Garlick so not a bad appointment. Next season could be very different with the right acquisitions. I think some good additions will be made.
The biggest problem we have is the fact that the Kroenkes doesnt care.
Again, a mixed bag. Some recruitment has been fantastic (mislintat, per, forsythe, o’driscoll). Others absolutely terrible (raul, huss, ivan, even vinai has not done a great job in his previous role).
The biggest problem has been Kroenke’s recruitment of the people who are supposed to make the smart signings.
Exactly But because they themselves are clueless about which strategies tend to work and which don’t in football, they’ve generally made horrible executive level hires going right the way back to Gazidis. Or if they do get it right like Mislintat, they ruin it by getting him to work alongside Sanllehi whose approach to recruitment is the polar opposite and completely incompatible. These decisions are ultimately the most impactful there are for a football club, so we’re screwed before we begin with the Kroenkes in charge It’s strange why they would buy their way into an industry they can’t be… Read more »
Best comment on it. He’s put up a lot of money, it’s not being spent well enough.
Also, Arteta will probably lose his job if there’s a takeover, not sure what people want him to say about his employer/boss.
It would be better to say nothing
Actually, apart from the Willian and Runarsson fuck-ups, and the huge overpayment for Pepe, our recruitment over the last 2-3 years wasn’t that bad. Tierney Martinelli Partey Gabriel Mari, Odegaard on loan, even Cedric, are rather good picks. If you compare with the Mustafi Xhaka Perez Mkhitaryan Kolasinac days, I would say we’re slightly progressing.
We’re also starting to look better at protecting our players’ value (particularly the youngsters) than we were a few years ago.
Actually I would say it got better since summer 2019. The 2015-2019 period was frankly horrendous.
We’re 10th?
In terms of league position we are regressing, its easy to say wait for next season but to be honest there’s nothing that points to an upward change.
That’s fair. We have missed David Dein for the last 14 years.
And yet Dein was the one who brought Kroenke in.
That’s the irony isn’t it? I blame the board who fired Dein for bringing in Kroenke, and then sold their shares to Kroenke. That’s the double whammy that we have never recovered from.
Poor David only got £75m for his shares…
You can include new contracts, free transfers and not shifting unwanted players there too. You can forgive Arteta for some poor decisions as a new manager, but why appoint Edu as well to make a very inexperienced pair?
Who knows if the next owner could be worse?
Yes but to be fair Edu has done a decent job as far as I can see. He managed to sign up Saka and Balogun (the latter was looking very bleak for a while) as well as overseen some very good signings (Martinelli and Mari were very left-field). Just holding the Willian signing against him might be a little unfair. And also remember that Willian came on a free, plus his real wages have never been confirmed.
To be clear, I absolutely want KSE out, I don’t approve of them in any way, I am just trying to figure out what they are likely to do if, as seems likely, they do not sell. I think they will spend enough to make some form of European football possible, and to challenge for the Champions League–but they will have no interest in the sort of commitment necessary for a challenge for the league. In other words, the model will not be Liverpool, but the Arsenal of the first decade of the new stadium. That is what they thought… Read more »
They employed salenhi and the likes. End of the day the bucks stops at the top. This is their prised cash cow as long as its a financial success they don’t care. Only way to be rid of them is to make it less of a financial success until they’re gone.
Vieira, Henry and Bergkamp causing: “a split amongst the fanbase” – I very much doubt it. Most fans would be behind those boys, imho.
I agree with you on this. Surprised that Blogs has very carefully written today’s blog & also the above post, hinting that we have no option but to support KSE.
I agree. Spotify may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the geezer does appear genuine Arsenal-wise. Bringing Vieira, Bergkamp and Henry on board (if even a stunt) is a master-stroke.
Having said that, if Stan the Man aint for selling then there is little that fans can do except vent our frustrations publicly.
No, I think like someone said in twitter, “Hurt the yank, by (hurting)his bank.”
get ta fuck
this is not going to endear either arteta or kroenke to the fans.
To be fair to Arteta, as Club manager he has to be diplomatic and so not say anything against his employer.
And yet the same fans hate Wenger for “protecting the owners.” You CAN criticise your employer. He simply chooses not to do so. He is just a yes man. Next.
Not in the middle of a press conference you CAN’T.
Next.
I agree.
Spot on. Piss of your boss and your out.
There’s diplomatic and then there’s this positive backing and endorsing them. Arteta is in dreamland if he thinks getting fans back in the stadium will automatically be “fully committed to the team”. I suspect it will be more of a pitchforks out scenario..
At this rate if the Kroenke are “fully committed” Arteta may find himself unemployed soon…
I think we should remain fully committed to getting KSE out of our club
Fans do have power over club. Only way to go about it seriously is to stop supporting the club with your money. Hatred, chants and protests don’t hurt them at all, you have tried that for a decade.
Not really. Hatred drove out Wenger, but in hindsight a lot of those anti-Wenger lot have now woken up to the reality that Kroenke was the main problem. The united Kroenke out protests are relatively new. Prior to these past few months it was just a few fans banging on the “Kroenke out” drum. Now it’s gaining traction and one senses that together we can finally get the Kroenkes out.
I like Wenger but Kroenke’s biggest issue is he hasn’t shown good judgement / enough ruthlessness in terms of who he hires to run the club. He just sat back and let Wenger do his thing which didn’t work when Wenger started to really slip the last few years. The replacement crew & Sanhelli were short lived but disasters (think Sven would have been good) & if we’re honest Arteta/Edu haven’t really worked out either.
The men running this club have spent enormous amounts on players the past 6-7 years, they’ve just spent very poorly.
No, I don’t think that’s correct about Wenger. I was (am) a season ticket holder and there was a great deal of discontent about the team’s performance under Wenger in his last few years. It wasn’t hatred more an increasing number of fans fed up at seeing the team decline before their eyes and the manager unable to do anything about it, either through signings, tactics etc. As to the Kroenkes, I think you’re too optimistic about the chances of getting them out. I hope I’m wrong (and you never know with football) but I just don’t see them selling… Read more »
The money is in the tv contracts which to some extent negates the effectiveness of protests etc. as long as the pl gains international interest, Arsenal will keep going up in value.
True, broadcasting revenue is certainly more than matchday receipts. Both are behind commercial income which, unfortunately, is still our weakest performing element when compared to the other “big” PL clubs.
The three revenue streams for Arsenal (latest figures, 2019-20) are:
Matchday revenue £79million
Broadcasting fees £119million
Commercial £142million
Yep. There’s a real dissonance in the fan base when it comes to Kroenke. He just hires people & lets them do their thing which in reality means that if you’re unhappy with him it’s primarily b/c he’s hired the wrong people. I really don’t see any argument for keeping Edu/Arteta in charge at this point. Even Blogs who I really like has resorted to “well he knows what’s wrong with the club”. So what- it’s blindingly obvious. We need someone who can fix it. Bring in an experienced sporting director and let them rebuild this – getting this wrong… Read more »
The sad thing about Arsene is he never updated his views, tactics etc unlike Fergie who was always getting new coaches with fresh ideas etc. Same with Mourinho, yesterdays man
If I thought my not spending my hard earned cash on renewing my season ticket would get Kroenke out I’d do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I know the only person to suffer would be me. Someone else would lift my ticket, Stan would still get his money, and I’d be ranting at the tv at home about the injustice. So the choice is that or sit in the stadium bemoaning how crap we are and how I’m wasting my time and money. Still not sure which of these scenarios I’m going to go with next season (assuming we do… Read more »
Well put.
I was ready to give up my ticket the minute we set foot in the super league.
Now I’m 99% sure I’ll renew. Arsenal is our club not theirs.
To walk away feels like giving up without a fight. Though I’m bitter that my relationship with arsenal and more broadly football has been really sullied.
I would be more than happy to support direct action such as organised boycotts until we get fan representation at board level and a fairer sport free from financial doping.
Give me a fucking break Mikel
Moving forward towards the championship?
Well said.
It’s propaganda bollocks. Utter shite. It insults the intelligence of the clubs fan base.
Take your ‘full commitment’ and shove it, Kroenke.
Mikel “Kroenke’s Mouthpiece” Arteta.
Lol so is every single manager. Show me one that speaks out against the owners and remains successful
I’m not talking about anybody else. Talking about Arsenal and our manager. Let’s not forget he came in as a refreshingly direct speaker. I stopped listening to his press conferences after about 3 months, when he started warbling on about nonsense and processes that didn’t exist. Now he just beats his chest and toes the company line. Boring.
He doesnt have to give them verbal blowjobs though. He can be more reserved in his statements.
You nailed it. He reminds me of the teacher’s pet at school. Yes, Kroenke. Anything you say, Kroenke. Three bags full, Mr Kroenke. When he isn’t sucking up he goes around acting like he is a big shot. Bizarre manager
You’re a public facing figure in a global company. The owners have backed you publicly when you’ve been under pressure. They’re now under pressure and through the comms department have asked you to do the same. You do.
It’s just business mate. Not sure what you want him to do
Haven’t you got homework to do?
Yes, it’s educating you going folk about something called standards.
Yeah sure KSE is excited. Sadly I’m not.
It’s an insult to the intelligence of the club’s supporters.
Arteta is nothing more than Kroenke’s lap dog.
KROENKE OUT
ARTETA OUT
Protests that cause damage to the team are counter intuitive. Support the club, support the team – remember who you are, what you are and what you represent. COYG!!
One is starting to think that the Kronkes are secretly Spu*s supporters intent on destroying our club
Wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of Spotify man taking over anyway. Not sure what trading in one calss of billionaire for another gets us anyway. Sure, he may be a fan of the Arsenal, but presumably he was a fan of music as well and that hasn’t stopped him sucking as much money and joy out of that industry through a frankyl brutal totalizing marketization campaign with his streaming platform.
“fully excited”
He’s done the dirty on Mrs Walmart and is marrying his young secretary?
Think I’ll go with REAL legends to listen to rather than Master of puppets Arteta “aka” the functional stop gap midfielder ! You have to love your club & all it stands for to become a fan yourself & KSE do not understand that ! Kroenke & his extended family have just committed THE biggest sin in the history of football & we can’t just forget that !!! So sorry if I don’t believe KSE or MA & their pack of lies ! Get them out of our club please !
Legends who’ve never managed a team let alone a major one except Henry who lasted a few months before being sacked.
I mean, I love Henry, Vieira and Dennis as much as anyone, but can anyone show me one good thing they’ve done in football in their post-playing careers? Sure Dennis was decent at Ajax for a bit, but Patrick and Henry haven’t exactly had glittering post-playing careers. I struggle with the idea that they’d be better placed to run a football club because ‘they care’ and ‘they understand’ — I think the reality of modern club ownership would see them operating in business environments where they’re well out of their depth. I’d rather keep my eye on Mertesacker’s development –… Read more »
Must say I’ve been super impressed with Mikel this season. Based on his consistency this season I’d definitely give him a PR job. As for managing a football team, the jury is out on that.
Arteta speaks a lot for a rookie manager, doesn’t he? If the owners were so committed to success, he would have been sacked.
Too many fans talk the talk but never walk the walk. If you want them to leave, stop filling up the stadiums every weekend when football returns. That will speak volumes.
Protests don’t do much if you’re paying for the product they’re offering and lining their pockets which is the only thing they apparently care about.
That’s a fair enough view (although I don’t see it working). One question: are you a season ticket holder, or do you attend The Emirates regularly (in “normal” times)?
I ask because a lot of fans who don’t attend are, I think, more likely be the ones who advocate the strongest action about boycotting games. As some of the posts here suggest, those who do attend regularly often think twice about it.
“Fully excited” eh. Well, we can only speculate about that. As to Arsenal, like it or not (and there’s no need to say which) I fear we’re “Stuck with Stan” for the foreseeable future. Let’s just hope the whole, recent, unfortunate episode has concentrated Kroenke minds as to what they need to do to restore Arsenal to former glory. I’m not holding my breath waiting, but we have to hope, don’t we.
To be fair I thought their statement yesterday was excellently worded to be as non-specific and non-committal as possible. They said their ‘ambition’ is to ‘compete’ for the top trophies – give me a break. We got to a EL final a couple of years ago, does that mean their ‘ambition’ to ‘compete’ was fulfilled?
I’m with you in that all we can do is hope!
Big fan of the blog. Although on this issue I am disappointed by your rational and understandable reaction to the news of this (vague) takeover attempt and our owners’ adamant stance. This is not a criticism of you and I respect your opinion on the matter, however, I found the tone fatalistic. Yes they almost certainly do not want to sell now because they have no need to, because the pressure on them to do so is currently minor. I would love to see this site more vitriolic and optimistic about driving them out. If we all agree that the… Read more »
Thanks for the comment. I am in no position to tell Arsenal fan not to go to games or anything else. How arrogant would that be? Fans have spent a year out of the Emirates but some bloke with a blog is telling them to stay away even longer? I can’t. And does that hurt the owner or the team? There are fan representative groups who are better placed to coordinate that kind of thing. My position on KSE’s ownership is clear, and I can shine a light/criticise and all the rest, but I can’t, and won’t ever tell anyone… Read more »
Well that is a totally understandable position. You’re very clear about your personal feelings towards the owners and I can respect that you do not want to tell others how to behave or to use this space for that purpose. I would say that all collective movements require strong and articulate leadership, and that with your position, passion, knowledge, rhetoric excellence, media savvy and remarkable talent for inventive insults you’d be a great choice to encourage action. And yes some of the tactics I advocated would be detrimental to the club and performances. They would have to be weighed against… Read more »
Passions are high but try to let Blogs do his thing. He dislikes the situation as much as the most of us and is motivating factor for us all.
Now, on positive note I’m sure we we can all agree that we’re in awe of the fact Blogs reads so far down the comments section.
Yes, totally agree. Full support for Blogs and his thang.
Agree with all this, thought the blog today was far too pessimistic, we don’t know what will happen yet.
I think we know exactly. KSE’s statement has no ambiguity whatsoever.
Wenger is basically saying, “Yes, I will come and help out.” Edu, Vinai, Arteta, or whoever at the club has the calling privileges, get on the phone with him !!
Hahahahaha good one mikel. Wait your not joking?
I think the owners will be reluctant to give Arteta another go for the upcoming season if he fails to win the EL given the debacle of the ESL and fans pressure against them to sell out.
I don’t sense a split in the fanbase, it seems fairly united in wanting KSE to go. The issue may no longer be money as such, though we’re still not exactly big spenders as far as the premier league is concerned. But there is an apathy and complacency that is deep rooted in this club and it comes from them, who they appoint and what actions they approve. Our decline since they arrived is undeniable and inexcusable. Also it’s all well and good Arteta saying this, but if we fail to win the EL and finish bottom half of the… Read more »
The only way Kroenke will sell is if it hits his pocket. So as long as he gets a positive return on his investment he won’t sell. He genuinely doesn’t care otherwise Fans need to coordinate, stop buying the merch, so no new kits for anyone, bring your own food and drinks to games, protest every game home or away, and us season ticket holders need to boycott matches or walk out en masse after 40 minutes of singing “Get out of our club”. We need our Arsenal stadium to be cauldron of bile (I don’t like using hate) for… Read more »
I agree with you Swifty. It isn’t a pleasant thought to go to war against our own club. No ones want to undermine our team and have a negative effect. But are we supposed to stay faithful and continue to finance and support regardless of what happens. Are we supposed to accept every injustice and act of desecration out of reluctance to upset or harm our beloved institution. Does not a gangrenous limb need amputating. The only languages owners understand are financial jargon and PR fluff. As you say, the only way to pressure them is to hit them in… Read more »
On a positive note the boycotting of merch will enable my family and I better value Christmas and birthday presents for my son.
I spoke to him about this last week and to his credit he’s on board and wants nothing to do with the Kroenkes. That’s said he won’t be getting a Spotify subscription either. Not yet anyway…
Arsene’s way of saying you are either very foolish or not really serious in buying the club.
But anyone else, please just get it done discreetly because otherwise it will become a public auction and that won’t help me and David Devin from completing our takeover 😉
This summer window will speak for itself concerning the plan he has for Arsenal club by business he does not just talks,
We need Odegaard and Yyuss B, in Arsenal midfield then another good goalkeeper in.
Arteta reminds me of a kid who was once told by a teacher they were a good speaker, so they never learned when to shut up.
The man is singing for his supper
There are so many problems apart from Kroenke even if KSE threw £200 million at the squad tomorrow I have no faith that we would firstly buy the right players, and secondly utilise them properly anyway. Add onto that our terrible contract and transfer decisions. Giving huge contracts to washed up players. Not selling players at the right time. Arteta should be doing better with this squad then what he is. Yes we have a few weak links but on paper we should be competing far more then what we are. I think this was a step too far for… Read more »