Football: Arsenal 'Invincibles' join Spotify founder Daniel Ek in mammoth takeover bid

(From L-R) Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry. Photos / Getty, Photosport

Three of Arsenal's most famous Invincibles have joined Spotify's billionaire founder in a £1.8 billion (NZ$3.46b) bid to buy the club from Stan Kroenke and have received the backing of supporter groups and high-profile fans.

As revealed exclusively by the UK's Telegraph Sport on Monday, Daniel Ek is working with Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira, three key members of Arsenal's 2003/04 Invincible team, on a bid to take control of the Gunners.

A formal offer in the region of £1.8 billion is expected to be made in the next 10 days to test the claim of Kroenke's son Josh, a director at Arsenal, that the club is not for sale.

According to Forbes, Ek is worth £3.4bn, with his Spotify music streaming service valued at £51.9bn. If his offer for Arsenal is successful, then it is understood Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira could all return to be part of a new set-up, with their knowledge of the club and the fan-base already winning plenty of support.

Ek is believed to be open to the idea of having fan representation on the board, which will please the Arsenal Supporters' Trust for whom Tim Payton said: "The AST have long called for the boardroom to be strengthened by the input of more Arsenal DNA, so we welcome the acknowledgement from three members of the Invincibles of the need for ownership change at the club.

"We welcome the interest of Daniel Ek and will support any potential buyer who will allow fans to own a real equity stake and have a voice on how our club is run."

High-profile Arsenal fan Piers Morgan reacted to the news by posting a message on Twitter that read: "BOOM! Let's do this…#KroenkeOut."

Thousands of Arsenal supporters protested against Kroenke outside the Emirates Stadium last Friday night, when Ek confirmed his interest in buying Arsenal by positing a message on Twitter that read: "As a kid growing up, I've cheered for @Arsenal as long as I can remember. If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I'd be happy to throw my hat in the ring."

Following the news of the involvement of the Invincibles, Ek on Monday retweeted Arsenal's official account congratulating Henry on being named in the new Premier League Hall of Fame.

Telegraph Sport understands that further fan protests against Kroenke are in the pipeline and the news of a bid from Ek, together with the Invincibles, will only strengthen the desire to try to force change.

In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport over the weekend, Henry revealed that he no longer recognises the Arsenal he loves and backed the protests against Kroenke.

Henry said: "This club belongs to the fans, I love the club and I will support the club until I die, but I do not recognise my club and what happened just now, with them trying to join a (Super) league that would have been closed, makes no sense to me.

"They have been running the club like a company, not a football club, and they showed their hand. Maybe it's a lack of understanding of the core football values and maybe the money was too big of a temptation. But whatever it was, they got it wrong. Badly wrong."

On the protests and whether or not the Kroenkes should bow to fan pressure and sell Arsenal, Henry said: "Fans always decide, as you saw with the Super League. You have to listen to the fans and I can understand why they protested.

"The ESL didn't happen because of the fans, not because anyone else was talking, Not only me, you and the fans said it was wrong, they (the owners) also said it was wrong. They showed their hand and that was disappointing.

"I remember when I arrived, not the Tottenham fans or our rivals, but a lot of the time I used to hear 'my second team, if I had to pick one, is Arsenal', because of the history, the culture, the class, the family. But I don't hear that or see that anymore and it pains me. We need to get that image back. We need our identity back."

Payton added: "It was hugely encouraging to read Thierry Henry effectively endorsing a view held by the AST for a very long time that the current Arsenal is not the club we recognise."