Two-time Premier League champion Thierry Henry has confirmed that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek remains interested in completing a takeover of Arsenal football club. The Frenchman sat alongside Ek at the Emirates during Arsenal’s win over Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, and said that the Swedish billionaire is keen on a takeover but is waiting for engagement in discussions from Arsenal.
Ek had previously submitted a takeover bid for Arsenal in May. Ek, an ardent Arsenal supporter, offered current Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke a proposed takeover bid worth £1.8 billion but it was rejected by the American sports mogul.
The initial takeover bid came in after backlash from supporters, who were furious with Arsenal agreeing to join the European Super League. Arsenal, along with five other PL sides, eventually backed out of the plan.
In June, it was reported that Ek was in the process of offering Kroenke a second bid ‘north of £2bn’ to claim ownership at Arsenal. Club insiders have also claimed that the offer has been put on the table.
Now, Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer Henry has confirmed that Ek is “here to stay”. Henry, along with his Arsenal former teammates Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp, all publicly voiced their support for Ek after his interest was revealed. However, Kroenke, who assumed full ownership of Arsenal in 2018, continues to play hardball despite being an unpopular figure among the Arsenal faithful.
Henry previously explained that Ek’s priority is to re-establish Arsenal’s identity. A few months ago, the 44-year-old stated that he felt some of the club’s identity had been lost under the KSE ownership.
While speaking to Sky Sports as a pundit on Monday, Henry hinted that Ek is waiting to hear from Kroenke after placing another takeover bid on the table.
He said, “To be able to get there, you need to have someone to respond on the other side. It didn’t happen yet. It’s going to be long, how long I don’t actually know, but we are here to stay.”
“He (Ek) is here to stay, so let’s see what’s going to happen – but obviously we enjoyed the win yesterday,” added Henry.
