Arsenal owner Kroenke won't sell up

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke and the rest of the club's directors apologised to manager Mikel Arteta and the players for a frantic week that was caused by the club's involvement in the Super League project, but he has no intention of putting the club up for sale despite groups of supporters demanding the American businessman to leave. Kroenke's son Josh, who acts as Arsenal director, spoke about his father's determination to take the team forward, claiming that the Kroenkes are "fit to carry on in as custodians of the club".

"We were put in a very difficult position by forces outside of the club. We have the same plans for summer that we had several weeks ago, and I'm still excited about those. I might be met with mistrust and scepticism, but over time I hope to establish some sort of relationship with our supporter groups and show them we are capable of taking our club forward."

Stan Kroenke, the AFC major shareholder (©AFP)

Kroenke said the club needed more time to answer the question of what the fans wanted.

"The first question we asked was: what is worse, a Super League or a Super League without Arsenal? We decided a Super League without Arsenal was the worst."

Josh Kroenke understands the fans' anger (©AFP)

Making a rash decision without time to ease the fanbase into the idea of a new competition took its toll on how the public reacted and ultimately stopped the Super League project in its tracks. But there is another aspect to the story – fans don't just want their clubs to compete in big games. They want the 'small' games as well. Josh Kroenke has picked up on that.

"From an English fan's perspective ... they want to see more big matches. But as one Chelsea supporter wrote on a sign that I saw online the other day, you still want your cold nights in Stoke."

Arsenal fans to protest against owner before the Everton match on Friday

On Thursday, Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham confirmed to a fans' forum that he telephoned the other 14 clubs to apologise for the Gunners' decision to join the Super League. He admitted Arsenal made a terrible decision and are working hard to rebuild their reputation.

American billionaire Stan Kroenke has been the club's shareholder since 2007, increasing his shareholding to above 60% four years later. Since August 2018, Kroenke's share of Arsenal is more than 90%. The 73-year-old businessman also owns several professional sports teams in the United States, notably the NBA team Denver Nuggets and the NHL ice hockey team Colorado Avalanches.