Daniel Ek, the owner of music streaming service, Spotify, has shown interest in buying Premier League club, Arsenal. The 38-year-old Swedish billionaire took to Twitter to declare his interest in buying the club.
The current owner of Arsenal football club, Stan Kroenke who became the owner of the club in 2018 has been under pressure from the club’s fans to step down due to the misfortune of the club.
Since April 18, 2021, when it was announced that Arsenal had joined 5 other Premier League clubs to sign up for the failed European Super League, the protest against Stan Kroenke has become more intense.
Reports claimed that Kroenke decided to sign up Arsenal for the European Super League due to the financial difficulties the club has been battling since the coronavirus pandemic forced football games to be played behind closed doors. The practice has drastically reduced the revenue of clubs which propelled 12 top clubs in Europe to sign up for the failed money-spinning Super League.
Even though Arsenal withdrew from the proposed league, the club’s fans have not stopped asking for the club’s owner to leave the club.
Ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League game against Everton on Friday which took place at the Emirates Stadium, some fans of the club stormed the premises of the stadium to call for the resignation of Stan Kroenke. Arsenal ended up losing the game 1-0.
At the height of the protest, Daniel Ek took to Twitter and wrote: “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.”
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
Daniel Ek is currently worth €4.7 billion according to Forbes ranking. In 2017, the American magazine Billboard named the 38-year-old Swedish businessman as the most influential person in the music business.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United and Newcastle United player, Alan Smith described the current owner of Arsenal, Stan Kroenke as being distant from Arsenal football club.
He said the son of the American businessman, Josh, who he described as a novice in the football business, has more connection with the club than the club’s owner.
According to Alan Smith, Stan is not emotionally attached to Arsenal but the American businessman is involved with the club for financial gains.
“I wasn’t surprised Arsenal were involved, given they have an American owner, an absent owner, who rarely says anything regarding the football club,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“There is the very little bond between Stan Kroenke and the club. He rarely comes over. His son has a more hands-on connection with the club, but Josh is new to the game, he’s not been brought up around football.
“Kroenke obviously has seen that model work in the States with the NFL, NBA, and along with the Liverpool and Manchester United owners, they have seen how profitable it could be. I don’t think they understand how the European mind thinks about our sporting culture. It was ignorant not to appreciate there would be such a backlash. It beggars belief.
“For Stan, it’s about figures on the page and profits and losses. There is no emotion there. I and the majority of Arsenal fans are not surprised he jumped into it, but so did some other clubs. Maybe they had some misgivings and had to be persuaded, but they were persuaded and that’s the damning thing.”
