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Jens Lehmann fires warning over potential Arsenal takeover

Lehmann fires warning over potential Arsenal takeover
© Reuters
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann questions what roles Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira will take up should they help a takeover of the club.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has questioned what roles Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira would take up should a takeover be completed for the Gunners.

The trio, who along with Lehmann were part of the famous 'Invincible' side, are reportedly helping Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek in his bid to purchase the North London club.

Current owner Stan Kroenke has come under fire since the European Super League was announced last week and many protests calling for him to leave the club have occurred since.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Lehmann was supportive of the takeover idea but did raise questions as to the structure of the former players' roles: "It would be fantastic to have my former teammates working for Arsenal again because they're all great guys.

"But I don't know if the Kroenke family actually wants to sell Arsenal. From my encounters with Josh Kroenke [Arsenal director], he's a very nice guy and he was very interested to lead Arsenal to a brighter future.

"My experience of football, now I'm on the board at Hertha Berlin, is people first need to know the right questions and then implement a structure where all the guys - Thierry, Dennis and Patrick - can work.

"Would you see them working on the pitch all together? I don't really understand their jobs because there needs to be a good structure from the top to the bottom."

Lehmann went on to explain a possible solution to see what roles Henry, Bergkamp and Vieira may take up.

"There's Edu [Arsenal's technical director], a former teammate, I think he's doing a good job there. So if on top comes Thierry as a coach or manager probably, Patrick the same... Dennis was an assistant coach at Ajax. I think their expertise is probably not becoming a sporting director or CEO," he added.

"It was the power of the fans, who didn't see the competition aspect in the Super League. So it tells you the fans are quite keen about fair competition, even though it means that Arsenal would probably not play in the Super League or the Champions League next year.

"Everybody loves to have competition, which is the basis of the game in Europe. The fans have a very sensitive attitude about it and it absolutely needs to be respected.

"That's why I love the Arsenal fans, because they know that it's very hard for Arsenal to get back into the Champions League, and still they are against it."

Thousands of fans gathered outside the Emirates Stadium before Mikel Arteta's side faced Everton in the Premier League, calling for Kroenke to sell the club.

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Written by
Sammy Wynne

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