Arteta: Kroenke has changed perception of Arsenal fans

Mikel Arteta has praised Arsenal’s American ownership and believes Stan Kroenke has changed the perception of the fans.

The Gunners’ owner has faced a wealth of criticism during his spell at the helm, with thousands of fans protesting last season as they pushed for the Kroenke family to sell up amid interest from Spotify owner Daniel Ek.

Kroenke remained adamant he would not sell though, despite the frustrations of the fans being the latest in a history of anger that also included the ill-fated European Super League plans and a compulsory purchase of shares that saw many supporters lose part-ownership of the club.

Now though, head coach Arteta feels that Kroenke and son Josh have changed the attitude of the supporters after showing their backing – spending more than anyone else ahead of last season in the transfer market and following that with another splurge of over £100million in preparation for the 2022-23 Premier League season.

“I’ve been really impressed with the owners. The perception that people had of them has completely changed and that is down to the facts and their acts,” Arteta said during the club’s tour of the United States.

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— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 22, 2022

“They were here for two days this week and we had a lot of time to sit down in a really relaxed way to talk about football and the sport in general.

“The vision they have, their commitment and level of understanding of the sport is fascinating.

“I have never seen ownership at that level so fully committed and engaged to bringing this club to where we want.

“It’s one thing for the owners to be here. It’s something else completely to be here in the way they were.

“I guarantee you that they are really looking forward to taking this club to the top.”

Arsenal have drafted in Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and young Brazilian winger Marquinhos so far this window, hoping to improve on their fifth-place finish in the Premier League last season.