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'The Kroenkes don't sell' | What hope is there of changes at Arsenal?

Arseblog founder Andrew Mangan joined us to discuss the background to Arsenal's Super League invo...



Soccer

'The Kroenkes don't sell' | What hope is there of changes at Arsenal?


Arseblog founder Andrew Mangan joined us to discuss the background to Arsenal's Super League involvement, the fallout and the future of the Kroenkes.

Stan and Josh Kroenke's 'Kroenke Sports & Entertainment' are the majority shareholders of the club, but Mangan does not believe protests against their ownership will move them to sell.

Spotify founder Daniel Ek has claimed to be interested in buying the club.

Arsenal

"Stan Kroenke moved the Rams from St Louis to Los Angeles, was the most hated man in that city. He didn't care. I'm not sure that this protest will faze him," Mangan said.

"It is hard to lend [the Ek bid] credibility until we hear more about it. It has certainly been great for Spotify, in terms of PR and everything else. When you get Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira involved - what Arsenal fan wouldn't be excited?  [Fans would say] (a) it's not Kroenke, (b) we've got ex-players involved, and (c) it's not Kroenke!

"But that is the kind of surface-level thought this has been given. How does Daniel Ek raise the money for it? He is a rich enough guy but to buy something from KSE that they don't want to sell, you are going to have to put all that money down. The valuation may be £2bn, what Stan Kroenke would be willing to sell it for is another matter entirely.

"Do you then have the club run by a guy that is apparently so enchanted by Arsenal that he spends his time in Spotify board meetings watching Arsenal games? Is that the guy you want running your club?"

Arsenal

Mangan is sceptical whether a move by Ek is either feasible or potentially successful.

"Stan Kroenke is not known as 'Silent Stan' for no reason - I don't think you get anywhere by doing it publicly first.

"You don't get it by doing an interview with Sky Sports, or by a tweet that gets everybody going crazy. That is not what's going to make Stan Kroenke amenable to your offer, even if you have the money to make one."

Ownership

One of the residual concerns from last week's furore was just how much agency fans have in replacing owners that they are deeply unhappy with.

"I think if you're a billionaire and you're looking to make money from football, you're in the wrong business - unless you are going to flip it somewhere down the line.

"I don't think that is necessarily what he wants to do. The message that has consistently come out of KSE: they don't sell. They don't sell their assets. They don't sell their clubs, teams or franchises.

"It might be the case that Arsenal's involvement in the Super League was that they didn't want to be left behind, but what it would have done is ringfence the value of the club [from the owners' perspective.]"

Stan Kroenke is not quite in the mould of the Glazers, however, as the relative drawdowns from their investments are not so steep. A couple of £3m 'consultancy fees' are the extent of their dividends.

"It is not like he is leeching £25-30m a year out of the club. I'm not sure what that would do for Stan Kroenke's bank balance anyway, it would be the equivalent of us taking 50p out of the till.

"It is not going to make him any richer than he already is - I don't think that the end-game is to build up the valuation of the club and buy an island somewhere because he sold Arsenal.

"This leaves the question 'where do we go under Kroenke?' but leaves the point that Kroenke is not going anywhere."

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Andrew Mangan Arseblog Arsenal Kroenke