Swedish billionaire Daniel Ek is set to launch a takeover bid for Arsenal with the help of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira.
Ek, co-founder and chief executive of music streaming service Spotify, has enlisted three of Arsenal's legendary 'Invincibles' to help him purchase the club from current owner Stan Kroenke.
Ek first expressed an interest in buying Arsenal last week, after fans protested outside the Emirates Stadium against Kroenke's ownership and his involvement in the failed breakaway European Super League.
Ek has intimated he would be open to having fan representation on the Arsenal board if he succeeds in buying the club.
"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," Ek tweeted on Friday.
Ek is understood to be totally serious about the deal and has the funds to make it happen. According to Forbes, he is worth £3.38bn (€4.7bn), and was named the most influential person in the music business by American magazine Billboard in 2017.
Close friends have described Ek as an Arsenal obsessive who watches every game. He has even been known to watch live Arsenal games during Spotify board meetings. He has been to many games at the Emirates Stadium and at Highbury.
A key figure in any proposed takeover will be Arsenal non-executive director Tim Lewis who is close to owner Stan Kroenke.
At this stage, it is not known how much the 38-year-old is willing to bid for Arsenal.
However, Arsenal director Josh Kroenke has told fans that his family has "no intention" of selling the club.
Speaking last week at a fans' forum following the collapse of the European Super League venture, Kroenke said the club was not for sale but that they would work harder to engage with fans more effectively in the future.
Henry: I don't recognise my Arsenal
Henry, Arsenal's all-time top goalscorer, joined his former manager Arsene Wenger in publicly criticising the club's ownership last week.
"I do not recognise my club and what happened just now, with them trying to join a league that would have been closed, makes no sense to me," Henry told the Telegraph. "They have been running the club like a company, not a football club, and they showed their hand.
"Maybe it's a lack of understanding of the core football values and maybe the money was too big of a temptation. But whatever it was, they got it wrong. Badly wrong.
"I was genuinely shocked like most people and couldn't believe what was unfolding.
"I have never talked before, but what happened recently made me realise fans, this is your club. It is your club and I'm an Arsenal fan too.
"I'm proud of what the fans achieved. Not just Arsenal fans, all the fans. The result was a victory for football."
What do we know about Daniel Ek?
Sven Carlsson, Author of The Spotify Play:
"It was Anders Limpar, the Swedish midfielder, who caught Ek's attention and made him start supporting Arsenal.
"As far as his investments go, he's laid low for a long time. He has, however, in the past year or so began to really look outside the company he founded.
"So, he's actually pledged one billion euros of his wealth - a sizeable amount of his wealth - to invest in technology companies, essentially, but no sort of entertainment bet outside of Spotify, yet.
"And this makes this very interesting."
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