Patrick Vieira Distances Himself From Proposed Arsenal Takeover

Written By Jacobs Dunga

The former Arsenal captain along with two other former teammates backed the proposed bid from Daniel Ek back in April.

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Due to Arsenal’s involvement in the failed Super League campaign which the London club later pulled out from after a wide range of protest from fans, Swedish Billionaire and Spotify founder, Daniel Ek proposed a bid to take over Arsenal football club.

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The bid at the time had the backing of ex Arsenal stars in Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp simply becuase of where the club was heading at the time according to Patrick Vieira who has since become the coach of Crystal Palace.

The club owner, Stan Kroenke was quick to reject the bid declaring the club was not for sale with Thierry Henry maintaining that Daniel Ek is here to stay despite Kroenke’s stance.

The Crystal Palace boss has however come out to withdraw his interest in the case prior to an emotional return to North London on Monday night, saying his status has changed from when he was just an ex Arsenal player and free to say some certain things.

“I was just expressing myself as Patrick, ex-Arsenal football player,” Vieira said via SkySports when asked about his support for Ek’s takeover plans.

“That comment was based on how the direction (of the club) was going. I was talking to somebody who had a different view and a different way of taking (forward) Arsenal Football Club.”

“This was the reason why with Dennis and Thierry were involved in the kind of situation that Arsenal was in.

“I am in a different position than a couple of months ago. So I’m not going to express myself in the same way than when I was just an ex-Arsenal football player.”

Despite all of Ek’s attempts which had a strong backing from Thierry Henry, Vieira was quick to note the reluctance of the Kroenke family to relinquish ownership of the club.

” When you were looking at the situation at the time it was clear that the Kroenke family was making the statement that the club is not for sale.

“Then I think everything was over. You can’t buy a football club if it is not for sale.” He said.

Meanwhile…

The 45-year-old is relishing his return to the Emirates where he captained Arsenal to Premier League title in 2004 without losing a single game.

Vieira spent nine successful years at Arsenal as a player, winning the Premier League three times under Arsene Wenger. The former captain returns on Monday night for the first time since turning coach of Crystal Palace.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Vieira. “I had a chance to play for this club for nine years – I arrived when I was a kid and left as a man. This is the club where I played my best football so obviously going back will be emotional. But I will put that on the side because what is important for us is to perform well and try to get the points.”

Asked whether it would be difficult to control his emotions against the club where he remains a hero among supporters, Vieira said: “I will answer that question after the game.”

Arsenal are top of the bottom half of the table while Crystal Palace are a further three places and three points behind the Gunners on the log.

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