Daniel Ek has been speaking on CNBC and has given an update on the status of his bid to takeover Arsenal.
Stan Kroenke released a statement in response to the speculation that Daniel Ek was preparing a takeover bid for Arsenal. It said what we all expected – that the Kroenkes had no plans to sell.
“We remain 100% committed to Arsenal and are not selling any stake in the Club,” they said. “We have not received any offer and we will not entertain any offer.
“Our ambition for Arsenal remains to compete to win the biggest trophies in the game and our focus remains on improving our competitiveness on the pitch to achieve this.”
This was then put to Ek on CNBC, transcribed by Arseblog.
“I started out saying, I’ve been a fan for 30 years of this club,” Ek said. “And I certainly didn’t expect that this would happen overnight. And I’m prepared that this could be a long journey. But you know, all I can do is prepare what I think is a very thoughtful offer, and bring it to them and hope they hear me out.”
Asked if he was serious, he said, “I’ve been an Arsenal fan since I was eight. Arsenal is my team. I love the history, the players and of course I love the fans. So, as I look at that, I see a tremendous opportunity to bring it back to glory. I want to establish trust with fans, and I want to engage the fans again.
“To answer your question, I’m very serious. You know, I have secured the funds for it. And I want to bring what I think is a very compelling offer to the owners. And I hope they hear me out.”
Why does Daniel Ek support Arsenal?
Daniel Ek’s name has been everywhere over the past few days, but how did the 38-year-old end up as an Arsenal fan in the first place?
Daniel Ek is worth a lot of money and he’d like to use some of it to pry Arsenal away from the cold, silent hands of Stan Kroenke.
The fact that he is not Stan Kroenke is the first thing in Ek’s favour, but knowing he’s an Arsenal fan makes him as close to an ideal buyer as we are likely to find in the, admittedly growing, but still small pool of people able and willing to do such a thing.
Born in 1983 in Stockholm, Ek became an Arsenal fan in 1991 when he was just eight. The reason? Not the title Arsenal won that year, nor the football we were playing that would go on to spawn the chant ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ a few years later.
No, it was because of one man – fellow Swede, Anders Limpar.
At the age of 25, Limpar signed for Arsenal in July, 1990, from Cremonese for £1m. He won the league with the Arsenal in his first year, scoring 13 goals to help the Gunners claim the crown.
In total, Limpar played either 79, 96 or 116 times for the club (Transfermarkt say 79, Wikipedia says 96 and 116 on the same page and Arsenal.com says nothing about his total appearances).
What’s clear, however, is that his first season was his most impactful in front of goal and was enough to turn Ek in to an Arsenal fan.
Interestingly, although indicative of nothing, Limpar spent a year playing for Kroenke’s US Soccer team, the Colorado Rapids. He signed for the Rapids in February 1999, leaving in November 2000 to return to Sweden as injuries really started to take their toll.
On Twitter, the Spotify owner has the handle @eldsjal, a Swedish word Ek says doesn’t have a twin in English. “I actually don’t think that word exists in English,” he told the Tim Ferriss Show in 2019. “Basically, the direct translation is ‘a fiery soul’. It means someone who is intensely passionate about something and is there in the good and the bad times, and perseveres.”
‘Fiery soul’ certainly would be the opposite of Silent Stan.
Although there is no evidence that Kroenke even has a soul, if he does, it’s completely frozen.