Stan Kroenke, the usually reticent Arsenal owner, has unexpectedly shared his insights into the football world, commenting on Kylian Mbappe’s potential record-breaking move to Al-Hilal and the financial power of the Saudi Arabian league.

• Stan Kroenke, Arsenal’s owner who rarely speaks about football, shared his thoughts on Kylian Mbappe‘s touted move to Saudi Pro League and the league’s financial influence.
• Arsenal’s interest in an incredibly unlikely move or loan for Mbappe has also been part of the summer rumours.

A rare insight from Kroenke on Mbappe and the Saudi Pro League

Known for his reticence when it comes to speaking about football, Stan Kroenke, owner of Arsenal, has surprisingly offered his thoughts on the much-discussed potential move of Kylian Mbappe to Al-Hilal.

At the recent Game Plan Summit in Los Angeles, Kroenke expressed doubt about the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s willingness to join the Saudi Pro League.

He stated, “I’ve had Middle Eastern people of prominence involved in teams ask me, and I like them by the way, they’re great guys.

“Manchester City are great people but they just do things differently because they have a whole lot of money and they’ve asked me, ‘do you think we could ever run our leagues over here like you do in the US?

“They think about it, that’s an outlier, I understand that [Kylian] Mbappe is not wanting to do that, I doubt that he will.”

Arsenal’s unlikely link to Mbappe

Amid the swirling rumours of the summer, Arsenal have been linked with an incredibly unlikely loan for Mbappe.

While many see this as mere speculation, it adds an intriguing dimension to Kroenke’s comments about the player’s future.

The financial muscle of Saudi Arabian football

Kroenke’s words come at a time when the Saudi Arabian league’s financial capabilities have been thrust into the spotlight.

With Al-Hilal’s failed attempts to secure top European talents like Victor Osimhen, the league’s influence in world football is increasingly evident.

“Maybe I should be concerned but I’m not terribly concerned by it,” Kroenke remarked. “I’ve been around in these leagues so long. It’s not as easy as you think. It’s hard.

“They can actually help, there’s a lot of ways they can help. I’m sure in other business, the guys at NBC and Sky would say, ‘how do we stop the pirating in the Middle East? Those signals, we ought to be paid for it, right?’

“There’s a tonne of that that’s going on. If they had an interest, they would get very interested now, that would probably help us out.”