TalkSport pundit Simon Jordan has made the claim that Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke was the driving force behind the European Super League because of the state of his club.
Arsenal were one of the 12 ‘founder’ members of the ESL when it was announced on Sunday night, however, following backlash from supporters the league looks set to be scrapped following the withdrawal of a number of the clubs over the past 24 hours.
Each club was reportedly set to receive a €200m-€300m ‘welcome bonus’ just for signing up for the league in the first place, and speaking on TalkSport, Jordan feels that the Arsenal owner was one of the main men behind the proposals because he was so tired of the situation that his club is in right now, with finances one of the main reasons he wanted to make it happen:
“I looked at these guys and thought, the capital behind this is Kroenke in my view. I look at Arsenal as a football club that accepts mediocrity. Now, when Kroenke walked through the door, they were the most profitable football club in the world. Look at the erosion of that club, because he doesn’t really care about a successful club, he wants to run it down the middle.
“A successful club costs a lot of money, an unsuccessful club costs a lot of money and he’s had a club that’s run in the middle for the last 15 years. Now, Arsenal is causing him a lot of problems, it’s a headache, it’s losing money. And I think a lot of the capital behind this is Kroenke.”
Will Stan Kroenke ever sell the club?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Simon Jordan’s comments about Stan Kroenke and the European Super League
It certainly wouldn’t come as a surprise if this decision was all about finances and getting more money for the club, because the evidence shows that Kroenke doesn’t like to put his own money into the club, so getting more money from a venture like this to put into the side does follow that logic.
And with protests on the way in regards to his role at the club and their feelings about him, you imagine that this failed money-grab will play a big part in proceedings and could really increase the tension even further between him and the supporters going forward.
In other news: ‘As part of those talks’ – Charles Watts hints £16.2m-rated talent may leave Arsenal