IS DANIEL EK'S DREAM OF BUYING ARSENAL ACTUALLY POSSIBLE?

Featured Image Credit: The Independent

The failed European Super League has uncovered all kinds of repercussions in the world of football, beyond the power disputes between the various club leaders and even UEFA leaders, who saw their image completely damaged were the owners of the six English clubs that wanted to enter the Super League.

Stanley Kroenke, the owner of Arsenal, was one of the main targets for fans, who have shown up outside the stadium claiming for his departure from the club.

Kroenke became involved in Arsenal in May 2007 through his company Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), buying 9% of the club's shares in 2008 he joined the board of directors and in 2011 became the club's majority shareholder. The latter purchase required him to make an offer for all the shares, which he finished buying between 2018 and 2019. KSE's total investment to buy Arsenal is estimated to exceed $1 billion.

Arsenal fans never agreed with KSE's involvement, accusing Kroenke of having only economic interests and that he would use the club to strengthen his other companies.

While the main fears of fans were never fulfilled, KSE's management has not been successful at all. Arsenal is not a club with financial problems, but it has also not shown a power of its own as expected of a club with such a large company behind it.

Sportingly, the Gunners in recent years have been far from Arséne Wenger's Invincible's, even since the French's departure, they have had two coaches, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta, the first did not win titles while Arteta, a former Arsenal player, won two national cups, but is currently having a really bad season in the Premier League. However, he is still looking to win the UEFA Europa League, a trophy that was denied to the London club in 2019 with Emery in the final against Chelsea.

Between poor results, and poor relationships from the start with fans, Stan Kroenke is presented with one more rival: Daniel Ek.

Daniel Ek, born in Sweden, was part of the foundation of Spotify, currently, he is the CEO and owns a significant amount of shares. On his social media, he has claimed to be an Arsenal fan since he was a kid and has the will and capital to own the London club if the American businessman agreed.

The Greatest virtue the Swede had in putting the proposal on the table was not believing that he would succeed alone. Several media outlets report that Ek would recruit three Gunners legends, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira, for his project, with this strong support, can be expected to have the advantage of having greater support from the fans in compare with the support Kroenke had when he bought the club.

But this is where the situation gets complicated. According to Forbes, Daniel Ek has a wealth of 4.2 billion, while the same website marks that Arsenal's market value would be 2.8 billion, so doubts arise: Will Ek be willing to disburse more than half of his fortune for his love to Arsenal? Will, he look for partners to be able to face the purchase with less of his wealth?

These doubts are intensified by recent information indicating that Kroenke would not be willing to sell the club under any circumstances. This would not mean that the operation is impossible, but it could mean that the current owner of Arsenal would be willing to make the negotiation difficult by increasing the value of the club, even double.

Kroenke's management is at its most critical, the fans will continue to manifest themselves as the situation seems to have no return, especially if the alliance between Ek and the aforementioned legends, is ready to take him out of the club.