Daniel Ek will make a formal takeover bid for Arsenal by the end of this week, after reaching out to Stan Kroenke over the weekend.

The Telegraph report that Daniel Ek is set to make a formal offer to buy Arsenal by the end of the week. This follows quotes from Thierry Henry, confirming that Ek reached out to Stan Kroenke last weekend to inform him of his intentions.

“He [Ek] already reached out and he already said himself that he collected the funds to make sure he can make a good bid,” said Henry. “Now, they [the Kroenkes] need to listen and see what they can do – will they accept or not accept?”

Ek has certainly not wasted any time getting various key groups on side. He has Arsenal club legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira backing his bid, and he’s already met with the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust to assure them of plans to make the role of fans “central to their proposals”.

A cynical interpretation of this would be that he’s trying to rally public opinion against the Kroenkes and for the takeover bid, to give it the best chance of going through. The fans will continue to hope he really does want to give them a say.

The billionaire has suggested he’s willing to play the long game, in the wake of KSE insisting the club is not for sale. But he’s also told the media he believes now is his best chance to succeed with the acquisition.