'There's A Willing Buyer, But Is There A Willing Seller?'

 

Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol:

"For a deal to happen you have to have a willing buyer and a willing seller.

"So, what do we have in this case? Do we have a willing buyer? Yes, of course we do. Daniel Ek has come out on social media and said he's interested in buying Arsenal. He certainly has the money. He is worth about three to four billion pounds and he's also backed by three club legends in Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp.

"Arsenal fans say they want their Arsenal back and if these three legends were involved in buying Arsenal, they would almost certainly be getting their Arsenal back, and they would also have a principal owner in Daniel Ek, someone who has been an Arsenal supporter himself since the early '90s.

"The question was, is this deal likely to happen? The most important thing is, do we have a willing seller? Does Stan Kroenke want to sell Arsenal? All the indications have been that the club is not for sale.

"Arsenal is not officially for sale but I have been told in the last few days that the owners of the six breakaway clubs have been taken aback by the backlash to their plans and in fact, one of those six owners is close to throwing the towel in and he would listen to offers for his club.

"Of course, if you own a Premier League club, one the of the big six, and you want to sell the club, you are not going to come out in public and say I've had enough, the fans are forcing me out and the club is for sale. You are not going to do that because that's going to affect the price you are going to get for the club. But you would discreetly make it known to people that the club is for sale.

"Now, there has been no indication that Arsenal is for sale but my understanding of the situation is that if Stan Kroenke was to sell the club to anyone, it would be to a consortium that included club legends like Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp.

"So, I wouldn't say that this is certainly going to happen. I wouldn't say I'd put money on it happening, but it is a possibility. The other tiny concern I would have is the fact that when these kinds of deals happen, they tend to come out of the blue. It just happens. People who've got the money to buy a big Premier League club like to do things discreetly. Normally, when we see these things played out in the media, they don't come to fruition.

"That is another concern but look, if you are going to put a consortium together to buy a club like Arsenal, you would want a billionaire like Daniel Ek, who also supports the club and you would want people like Thierry henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira involved."

‘The fans still want a voice’

More from Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:

“We have to be cautious when it comes to the supporters. It’s a case of once bitten, twice shy. Yes, I think Arsenal supporters, of course, would prefer this consortium to take over and buy the club from Stan Kroenke.

“At the moment, there is no love lost at all between the supporters and the present owners, but I think what the fans want is to make sure, going forward they have a voice on the board.

“We are going to have a fan-led review into football governance that may well recommend that clubs have to have a supervisory board that is controlled by supporters.

“So, the supporters, going ahead, still want to have a say.

“My sense of it is the Arsenal supporters are not just saying to Mr. Ek, Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira, come in and do what you want. No, the Arsenal fans are saying of course we’d welcome you with open arms but let’s not forget about the fan-led review into football governance as well because we still need to have a voice going forward.”

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