Kroenke family rule out selling Arsenal amid Daniel Ek interest

The Kroenke family have ruled out selling their stake in Arsenal amid interest from Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek.

The current Gunners owners have never been less popular in north London following their botched attempt to form a breakaway Super League last week. This led to fan protests with Ek taking to Twitter to say that he would be interested in buying the club he has supported since he was a child.

However, in a joint statement given to Bloomberg (via the Athletic) Stan and Josh Kroenke insisted they remain 100% committed to the club.

"In recent days we have noted media speculation regarding a potential takeover bid for Arsenal Football Club. We remain 100 per cent committed to Arsenal and are not selling any stake in the club. We have not received any offer and we will not entertain any offer," they said.

"Our ambition for Arsenal remains to compete to win the biggest trophies in the game and our focus remains on improving our competitiveness on the pitch to achieve this."

The statement came after the Kroenkes, along with CEO Vinai Venkatesham, held a 50-minute call with staff this afternoon in which they denied interest in selling the club. The owners have been criticised for a lack of investment by Gunners fans but in the meeting they asserted that they had covered £200m+ of stadium debt as well as financing three expensive transfer windows.

It is not just off the pitch that Arsenal have been floundering of late. On-field results have also been poor this season. The Gunners currently sit tenth with next to no hope of finishing in the top four. Their only remaining chance of securing Champions League football next season is winning the Europa League.

Arsenal are set to take on Villarreal in the semi-finals with the first leg taking place on Thursday. The tie sees former Gunners boss Unai Emery return to the Emirates Stadium