Stan Kroenke has already made $685m Arsenal decision to avoid points deduction with Man City fear

Stan Kroenke may well have saved Arsenal from the fate dealt to Everton in the past week as the Arsenal owner continues to steer the club safely up the Premier League table. Over a weekend that has seen the football world collapse over itself to grasp the full scale of things following the Premier League's punishment of the Toffees, Arsenal are safe.

Unlike their title rivals Manchester City, who have 115 charges hanging over their heads related to financial misdeeds over a 10-year period between 2008 and 2018, the start and middle of their remarkable run of success, the Gunners have nothing to worry about. Although many have criticised the ownership, especially in the late and post-Arsene Wenger era, getting through with more trophies than Manchester United and doing so without looming issues is a tick in their box.

Kroenke, who hasn't always been a popular figure at Arsenal and remains divisive having spent more of his time devoted to American sporting franchises since his involvement in the club started in 2011, is now leading the way in a sense. His side are second in the table and are under no investigation from any of football's leading governing bodies.

They are doing so without the wealth of a nation-state or royal family-backed takeover, though a real estate tycoon blurs the lines in ethical terms with Kroenke's abundance of riches, and the path looks clear. In Mikel Arteta the Gunners have a popular manager with supporters who is young, charismatic and energetic, all traits that his team now take on as well.

Things weren't always destined to end this way though and it takes a look before even the 2021 European Super League debacle — the lowest point in Kroenke's tenure as owner — to truly realise why. As Everton