A potential ownership group consisting of Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek and Arsenal legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira are planning a bid to try and buy Arsenal, according to ESPN’s James Olley.
The club is currently owned by Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE), which also owns the NFL’s Rams, NBA’s Nuggets, NHL’s Avalanche and MLS’s Rapids.
The group is reportedly expected to make a formal offer within the next two weeks although Josh Kroenke of KSE said Thursday at an Arsenal fans forum that the group has “no intention of selling.”
Ek, who Forbes values at $4.7 billion, said last week that he was interested in buying the club, which is valued by Forbes at $2.8 billion.
“As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for Arsenal as long as I can remember,” Ek wrote on Twitter. “If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring.”
The last week proved to be a turbulent week for the North London club after the European Super League revealed that Arsenal would be one of the six founding members in the new enterprise from the Premier League.
Prior to Friday’s Premier League match against Everton, scores of Arsenal fans gathered at the Emirates Stadium to protest the club’s involvement in the project. In the lead-up to the protests, Arsenal had announced its withdrawal from the Super League and the entire breakaway league appears to have come crashing down before ever playing a game.
However, according to ESPN, the Kroenkes could have been looking to join the Super League as the concluding part of an exit strategy to sell the club.
The Gunners currently sit in 10th place in the Premier League, 12 points before a top-four spot, and look certain to miss out on Champions League for the fifth straight year.
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