Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira are teaming up with Spotify founder Daniel Ek to launch a takeover bid for Arsenal, according to reports on Monday.

ITV News as well as The Telegraph are reporting that an official announcement of a £1.8bn takeover attempt of the north London club could come soon.

The relationship between fans and owner Stan Kroenke, which has been tumultuous in recent years, was worsened further when the Gunners announced they had signed up as one of the founding members of a breakaway European Super League along with Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Manchester City and Manchester United.

If successful, then it is understood Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira could all return to Arsenal to be part of the new set-up – news that is bound to excite Arsenal fans around the world – some of which gathered outside the Emirates Stadium last week to make their feelings known.

Despite Josh Kroenke’s statement last week that Arsenal isn’t for sale it is understood that the involvement of Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira will put pressure on him to listen to any offer from Ek.

However, the news has been received with some caution from a number of Arsenal fans.

“The problem is whether Stan Kroenke is at the stage where they have given up the ghost and are ready to sell,” says Gav from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

“Unless they sell it doesn’t really matter who comes in and says they want to buy the club.

“Daniel Ek from Spotify is from a part of the world that is very well versed in English football and we’ve got some absolutely wonderful Scandinavian supporters who have been following Arsenal for years.

“So the thought of a Scandinavian owner doesn’t fill me with as much dread as having Stan Kroenke in charge.

“I think he would be the right fit, the worry is billionaires coming out and saying they want to buy the club, sometimes can be something of a publicity stunt.

“But hopefully Mr Ek wants to buy the club and hopefully the Kroenkes want to sell – the main thing really is, Stan needs to go.”

It’s a sentiment shared by Michael from You Are My Arsenal who, despite being enthusiastic about the potential buyout, questions what the three former Arsenal stars will actually bring to the table.

“I think the interest by Daniel Ek is genuine and comes from a place of wanting to do what’s best for Arsenal,” he told FansBet.

Adding in the likes of Henry, Bergkamp and Henry gives fans what they are looking for but I have a lot of questions about that – like, what are their credentials to running a football club outside of the fact they played for it?”

“None of them have covered themselves in glory during their post-Arsenal careers.

“The sad thing is that people look at this and think any option is better than the current ownership without thinking what they would actually bring to the club and do for Arsenal.

“Just because they are fans or former players doesn’t mean they will be successful in running Arsenal. But it’s all a moot point anyway, they just don’t have the type of money to even get Kroenke to think about selling Arsenal.”

 

 

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