The January transfer window is coming to a close and talks of possible ins and outs has dominated the social and news feeds, however, these are not the only big talking points for Arsenal and a deal that has since broken down may have been lost in the January window smog.
2021 was dominated by Super League fiascos and takeover bids for Arsenal. The primary candidate involved was Spotify CEO Daniel Ek as the Swede planned to tempt Stan Kroenke into selling up.
Ek, however, was unsuccessful in his attempts to take over the club. Stan’s son, Josh Kroenke, was revealed to have told Ek that KSE simply did not need his money and that there was no intention from them to sell.
Ek revealed this in a statement on his Twitter timeline.
"Inaccurate reports emerged today saying I have not made a bid for Arsenal Football Club," Ek wrote on Twitter in May of last year.
"I think it's important to correct the record - this week an offer was made to both Josh Kroenke and their bankers that included fan ownership, representation at board and a golden share for the supporter.
"They replied that they don’t need the money. I remain interested should that situation ever change."
Ek kept his word and soon news dropped that he had the backing of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira in his bid to one day take over Arsenal. He was spotted at the North London Derby earlier this year with the legendary Gunners striker.
This has been further evidenced by his company Spotify, which was looking to agree on a deal with Arsenal regarding sponsorship.
Despite this, talks have broken down according to El Mundo Deportivo, via The Mirror. Spotify is now said to be close to agreeing on a deal with Barcelona instead. A club which is very open to future financial benefits through sponsorship to help them rebuild from monetary difficulties.
Arsenal’s failure to agree on the deal with Spotify could have lasting consequences.
Barcelona have drawn parallels throughout the past two decades for their style of play and more recently their fall from the heights of winning major titles.
A spate of poor decisions in the transfer market, another similarity shared with the Gunners, has seen Barca plummet out of competitiveness. Now playing Europa League football in the second half of the season.
Arsenal, like Barcelona, have been working to overhaul their squad and get back to the elite level of the game and ultimately the Champions League. Both teams sit outside their respective top four places in the Premier League and La Liga.
Yet this new deal with Spotify could allow the Blaugrana the ability to compete better in the market financially.
“We’re definitely recovering our status. Everybody in the world should get ready, as we are back as big players in the market.” The words of recently appointed president Joan Laporta after being asked whether Erling Haaland was a player the Catalan side were interested in.
Should this deal combine with Laporta’s ambitions and Arsenal fail to respond, the chance to take advantage of Barcelona’s poor situation and form may yet be another opportunity missed.
If Laporta’s prophecy comes true, then Arsenal will have their 2006 Champions League nemesis to deal with in the transfer market. Shared targets may fall away from the Gunners with a club of the stature as Barcelona coming in for them.
Arsenal will hope this is all just talk for now but they have little time to raise their own game and their current struggles in the transfer window will do little to encourage the doubters.
Make sure you have subscribed to The Arsenal Way! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Arsenal content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Tom Canton from the TAW team to keep up to date with his work.
