Ek says he has been an Arsenal fan since childhoodArsenal legend Thierry Henry has warned fans a potential takeover by Spotify founder Daniel Ek could take a “very long” time and said the Swede wants the club to rediscover its identity.
Henry and other Gunners greats have joined his bid but owners Stan and Josh Kroenke say they do not want to sell.
“He wants to reinject the Arsenal DNA, the identity that’s gone,” Henry said.
“You don’t have Arsenal people there among the board that can sometimes show the right direction and that is what Daniel wants to do.
“Daniel is an Arsenal fan – he hasn’t said that for publicity, he has been an Arsenal fan for a long time.”
World Cup-winning France striker Henry said he and former Gunners team-mates Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira were approached by the Swedish billionaire to join the bid.
“We listened to him,” Henry told Sky Sports. “When we knew first and foremost that he wanted to involve the fans, we actually met the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust and told them what we wanted to do; bring them back on board.
“He already said he collected the funds so he can make sure he can make a good bid. Now obviously they need to listen and see what they can do.
“Something that is very important about it, saying they want the owner out, we are trying to offer a solution of having the fans as the DNA back of the club.”
The Kroenkes responded to Ek’s interest by saying they were “100% committed” to Arsenal and “are not selling any stake”.
But Henry said Ek “will not move away” and will wait “to see if they want to sell” in the future.
“That is going to take a long time,” 43-year-old Henry said.
“We know what we want to do but first and foremost we need to make sure we can take over, if they are listening.
“Let’s see where it is going to go, he reached out. I don’t know now how far they went.”