Arsenal are now thriving under KSE, writes ISAAN KHAN

It was a Josh Kroenke text message to Mikel Arteta last summer which reflected where he holds Arsenal in his vast sporting empire.

In June the Denver Nuggets had lifted their first NBA Championship. The basketball team’s 48-year wait for silverware was over — and yet another Kroenke Sports and Entertainment (KSE) team had won the league in their respective sport.

It followed the scalps of the Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Mammoth (NLL) and Colorado Rapids (MLS). Four titles in 18 months, overall. So trophies and success are staples within the Kroenke household — and they crave even more.

Mail Sport understands Arsenal co-chair Josh texted Arteta, joking that it was Arsenal’s turn next to win a league title.

Of their six teams, only the Gunners winning the Premier League remains to complete the syndicate. Josh, as expected, keeps a close eye on Arsenal and is keen on success at the north London club after the difficulties in the initial years when KSE, founded by father Stan, became majority owner in 2011.

Though it was 2018 before KSE took full control and could then call all the shots.

Debts involved in the Emirates Stadium move had limited Arsenal’s transfer activity and precipitated a barren spell where finishing in the top four to qualify for the Champions League was seen as acceptable. A big reversal from the early days under Arsene Wenger.

Protests from fans toxified the atmosphere and led to Stan being dubbed ‘Silent Stan’ over not publicly addressing the situation. And then, of course, there was the ill-fated attempt in 2021 to join the European Super League — a highly controversial project which would have allowed Europe’s most storied clubs to run off and play each other in a competition run amongst themselves.

It smacked of greed and the fans of all 12 ‘founder’ clubs made their voices heard in droves, with the competition eventually canned. It did not help that around the time, KSE made 55 redundancies to cut costs. 

This context makes the transformation of the Arsenal team and KSE’s image in north London all the more remarkable. Not many owners of English football clubs, if any, have achieved such a turnaround.

Josh has arguably been aided by his appearances in Amazon’s All or Nothing fly-on-the-wall documentary series on the club. In the 2022 series, the 44-year-old appears empathetic and as someone who cares about the club’s trajectory. The overall reception from it is understood to have pleased both the club and him.

The US resident gets to games when he can. Last season he visited the Emirates multiple times, mingling in with regular staff members as well as the club executives.

During Arsenal’s recent pre-season tour of the US he was seen at the first two games in Los Angeles against Bournemouth and Manchester United, and met with players and senior figures such as executive vice-chair Tim Lewis, managing director Richard Garlick and sporting director Edu.

Mail Sport understands that Josh is privately confident the Gunners can this season give Manchester City an even better run for their money than the previous two campaigns, in particular, after noticing a trend in the preceding years before some of his American teams seized silverware.

For example, the Denver Nuggets reached the Conference finals in the 2019-20 season — one stage before the NBA final — and won the NBA Championship three seasons later.

And the Los Angeles Rams lost the Super Bowl final to the New England Patriots in 2019, before winning the trophy three years later.

Putting the Gunners into that context, they have been Premier League runners-up for two consecutive seasons. Third time lucky? Who knows.

But it is why, it’s understood, Josh and Stan have been patient and are so hopeful for this coming season — and are willing to continue buying players to bolster the squad. Riccardo Calafiori has been bought this week for £42million from Bologna. At least one more signing is expected to be bought before the transfer window closes on August 31.

Now the dust has settled on the last campaign, Josh is believed to have come to terms with Arsenal’s second-placed finish and feels that decisions which didn’t go their way in games was a contributing factor.

One aspect under Josh and Stan’s ownership which has come together is the relationships between their sports teams, despite US and UK sports being vastly different.

They have encouraged teams to swap insights and information. Mail Sport understands that the north London club have looked into how scouting reports, technology and data analytics are used at one of the teams at least, with a view to potentially incorporating these aspects at their own club.

More broadly, there are other benefits to be reaped. Last Friday, executives and former players from KSE’s six teams all met up in Los Angeles. It’s part of an aim to create a family feel across the conglomerate.

Later in the day, Arteta and LA Rams head coach Sean McVey were taking part in a coaching clinic for 100 children from the local LA community, with Stan and Josh spectating. Arteta and McVey were connected by Josh a couple of years ago after he saw parallels between the pair.

They are both young managers — McVey was hired aged just 30, Arteta while was appointed aged 37 — with no management experience at the highest level as a No1 prior to their appointments.

It is why the pair can relate to each other and regularly communicate on matters such as leadership and strategy.

It ties into a core tenet of KSE’s recipe for success: hiring first-time sporting executives who have had playing experience in either the college or professional ranks — but, crucially, sticking with them.

They include Les Snead (LA Rams), Calvin Booth (Colorado Nuggets) and Edu (Arsenal).

Mail Sport understands that the Kroenkes see the value in promoting young inexperienced figures to senior positions because the growth potential often outweighs the risk. Josh himself was only 32 when Stan appointed him to the Arsenal board as non-executive director.

When the calls rung around for Arteta to be sacked — the zenith being Arsenal’s Europa League semi-final defeat to ex-boss Unai Emery’s Villareal — KSE could see the long-term road ahead. The Spaniard was not going to be shown the door.

Looking further afield, it has been reported that the Kroenkes are actively looking at plans to expand the Emirates Stadium.

If that does come to fruition, you only have to look at the Kroenke-owned SoFi Stadium. The 3.1million square foot state-of-the-art venue boasts a double-sided oval video board — the first-ever to be built in a stadium — and is the first indoor-outdoor arena in the US.

Mail Sport toured the venue last week and was shown the owner’s suite. A lift in there takes you to straight into the LA Rams locker room. There’s even a lift option to go straight into the car park from the suite or locker room.

One can only imagine what plans the Kroenkes have for the Emirates — if they push ahead and try to renovate it. Though that is complicated and far away at present owing to planning permission complexities.

Capturing silverware aside, Arsenal are thriving. And under KSE’s lofty ambitions, supporters can certainly hope the club’s trajectory continues moving upwards.